FlightTwin: A Generalized Digital Twin Accompanying Flight Framework for Fixed-Wing Aircraft

Originating from the aerospace industry, digital twin technology integrates real-world physical systems with digital models, enabling a comprehensive understanding and optimization of aircraft systems. This technology shows significant potential for enhancing aircraft performance and safety, improving air traffic efficiency, and enriching pilot training and simulation environments, particularly within the context of accompanying flight. However, traditional approaches—such as classical mechanics-based six-degree-of-freedom dynamics models and wind tunnel experiment-driven data models—face limitations in 3D visualization, human-machine interaction, and functional scalability. To address these challenges, this study explores the application of digital twin technology in fixed-wing aircraft accompanying flight and proposes a generalized framework. The design, implementation, and validation of an aircraft flight accompaniment system are detailed, with the U.S. F/A-18C attack fighter serving as a case study. The proposed framework consists of four layers: physical, virtual, data, and service. In the virtual layer, a detailed 3D model of the aircraft is developed, and the physical simulation model is redeveloped using a left-hand coordinate system to ensure high fidelity. System experiments and validation are conducted on the Unity3D platform, with adjustments made to the PID flight controller parameters to demonstrate the framework’s design validity and functional integrity.