Quote:
Originally Posted by Mighty Midget
As for the disc, it can also be ignored (for this purpose) as it will always be close enough to perpendicular to the mast.
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I think it is necessary to be able to see how it points. Just drawing lines makes for ambiguous orientations, think about the famous wireframe box that you can see in either of 2 orientations, both equally valid. The disc removes all ambiguity:
green = "up", blue = "front", "forward" is not visible, but would be pointing horizontally to the left.
(although to make it more visually appealing, I would actually replace that disc by a simple 3D model of a helicopter, though it would be necessary not to make it too "in your face" as that is not the point of the exercise).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mighty Midget
The idea about the line rotating around a fixed point is based on how a heli flips around: When a heli flips, it flips around its centre of gravity, which will be close enough to the main mast to say it is _on_ the main mast. The line is really an imaginary line between CG and the rotor hub but like I said, if CG is on the mast, then that imaginary line will be where the mast is.
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When programming, this doesn't make a lot of difference. It's just an extra translation.