The place where it all started, still alive and going strong
April 17th is the anniversary day for VRChat Aviation (VRCA). Almost five years ago the prefab that became the core of almost all aviation operations going forward was released. For players looking at trying their hand at flying aircraft and burgeoning world creators curious if their flight focused visions could be built, the core of their interests was a world known as 'Test Pilots'.
Before this world release, VRChat was a massively multiplayer virtual world platform of used created and driven experiences was mainly known for engaging social experiences in smaller user made worlds. While a form of pseudo-aviation did exist between 2014 and 2019, the true flight experiences started in 2020.
The Beginning
Development of the Sacc Flight and Vehicles prefab by its solo developer Sacchan truly 'took off' in April 2020 with the release of VRChat software development kit 3 (SDK). This creator's initial goal was to make vehicles that handled better compared to those made with the previous SDK. Our Creator Highlight Month 2022 interview with Sacchan goes into detail about the exact development path, but with the release of Test Pilots and the prefab code base, users across the globe to try out the first iterations of this type of aviation on the VRChat platform.
During the first summer after its release, the developer was joined by a cadre of friends with varying degrees of aviation knowledge. From real world operations and years of experience with flight simulators of varying complexities. This collaborative effort helped refine Sacc Flight. New weapons, aircraft capabilities, changes in default values and the groundwork for other types of aircraft in the future. For players looking to try their hand at piloting aircraft or hopeful new world creators wanting to see what was possible with the prefab, Test Pilots was truly at the center of everything.
Changes and Advancements
As the years went on, the VRChat aviation community gained dozens of new world creators. Some making one-off worlds that faded out with no ongoing support, others still dedicated creators with multiple worlds to their name. The free to download and use prefab was thoroughly customized by these creators to make various types of flight experiences. Much like indie flight game development, VRCA worlds reflect the skill level and desire of their developer(s). They cross the entire spectrum of aviation experiences at a rather high rate thanks to how accessible Sacc Flight is.
This creates an interesting environment where frequent world releases create the need for new worlds to be produced to remain relevant in the steady stream of world creation. It is somewhat easy for even the best worlds at one point in time to gradually slide into hidden gem status if a world creator does not find ways to update it semi-consistently. There are few VRCA worlds that remain within the Popular World tab for the entire VRChat platform for extended periods of time when they receive considerable updates. Going against the grain, Test Pilots continues to be the most active VRCA world, even almost five years after its release. A feat very, very few other worlds have been able to replicate.
Vehicle Variety
Back in 2020, Test Pilots was the location to go to try out the newest additions to the prefab, new aircraft that would be built around specific concepts and functions. The venerable SF-1 fixed-wing fighter created by Sacchan was gradually joined by a wide variety of believable and pure sci-fi aircraft. Some of them designed by Sagi-chan with Sagi Aerospace, one of the first highly well known 3D modelers for VRCA.
In 2025, there are 21 vehicles in the world's roster. The selection is so diverse. They include anti-aircraft emplacements, cars, seaplanes, airshow stunt plane, biplanes, fixed-wing combat aircraft, light and heavy lift rotary-wing, highspeed reconnaissance, anti-gravity bike, strategic bombers, spacefighter - a wild variety. During a recent private session to gather materials for this article, we took photos of these aircraft to visually demonstrate what players get access to in one visit.
The breadth of the capabilities these aircraft possess are air-to-air missiles, unguided bombs, vertical take off and landing capability, hypersonic cruise, forward swept swing wings, thrust vectoring, airshow fireworks and laser effects, multi-passenger transport, main rotor tilt and more.
An original design aircraft carrier with two SAK-1 carrier borne fighters from Sagi Aerospace is also featured in this world.
My personal favorites are the propeller driven two-seater aircraft. Within VRChat as a whole prop aircraft are uncommon, but these aircraft are capable of passing control of the aircraft from the front seat to the back seat both on the ground and in flight. In my opinion this is useful as a training tool to have new players be introduced to flying by more experienced players and it adds to the unique social side of aviation in VRChat.
Even for the newest player that has never flown a simulated aircraft or the tried and true flight simulation pilot wanting to see is possible on the platform, the sheer variety and quality of the aircraft in Test Pilots continues to make this world a perfect introductory experience to VRCA.
Device Compatibility
VRChat as a platform certainly has limitations for its user created worlds. Especially strict limitations if you compare it to standalone, offline VR games. Many VRCA world creators choose to make their experiences exactly as they plan, prioritizing achieving their vision even if it means worlds are only compatible with Personal Computer tethered VR headsets.
Test Pilots has continued to be a rather accessible world in terms of devices used to connect to it. The world is currently Cross-Platform compatible, which means it is compatible with Meta Quest, SteamVR, Pico and Google Play. While the differences between PC connected and headset standalone versions of VRChat is stark in a few ways, the core experience of the vehicles in Test Pilots remains intact and available for a massive number of users.
There are dozens of VRChat aviation worlds that could be described as more detailed in aircraft handling characteristics, cockpit instruments or with elaborate terrains, but many of them give up Cross-Platform capabilities, which Test Pilots seems to capitalize on.
In World Activities
It is safe to say that even during early development, VRCA is primarily player versus player combat focused. Two or more players locked into close range air combat within minutes of loading into the world and flinging themselves into the nearest fighter. As surprising as this may sound, constant back-to-back dogfights can eventually get boring for some players. Test Pilots is built with other types of gameplay in mind as well.
The Sacc Flight prefab includes time trials where players can select different courses. The courses are visually represented by rings hovering in the air for players to fly through. Each world instance of Test Pilots shows the top players and their fastest times. Players that achieve fast times and/or other feats sometimes put them on social media to keep track of the fastest times.
The terrain of this world also includes challenges like short runways scattered around the world, natural terrain (caves, valleys) traditional structures (bridges, city buildings) and immensely complicated structures built specifically for players to challenge themselves to fly through. Some of them being truly massive in size.
Time of Day
Test Pilots has something very few VRChat aviation worlds have: a working day and night cycle. While that seems like a minor detail in the grand scheme of things, much like how clouds and weather change an experience, a gradual sunrise or twinkling night produces memorable moments. Placed a top the air traffic control tower in the main spawn area of the world, players can physically interreact with this model of the planet and sun and set the time of day manually.
Flight Model
Developer and world creator Sacchan describes the flight model as:
"The performance of the planes there is more on the Ace Combat side of things, and sometimes I think I'd like to make it more realistic, but as it's so established as it is, that'll have to be done in other worlds." -Sacchan, Creator Highlight Month 2022 Interview
This still remains true in 2025. Keeping the more Ace Combat-y arcade flight model in place makes Test Pilots easily accessible for players of any skill level. However, it is not all unlimited afterburners and extreme aerial maneuvers with no repercussions. The high performance fixed-wing fighters that can perform post stall maneuvers are just as capable of ripping themselves apart mid-flight.
A key part of the SaccFlight system is the ability to turn Flight Limits on and off. Think of this function as turning off the flight control system limiters in a fly-by-wire aircraft. With them off there are no control dampening functions to keep the aircraft or pilot safe, but with them disabled more skilled players can eke extra performance out of their aircraft at the very real risk of destroying the aircraft within seconds of pushing it beyond their structural limits. It is a natural risk vs reward system.
To The Future
There is an impressive list of world creators that have used the Sacc Flight and Vehicles Prefab to take VRChat aviation in new directions. Through it all Test Pilots has remained "at the top" it terms of numbers of user visit. Its combination of accessibility, vehicle variety and activities are a proven formula. Developer and world creator Sacchan is working on the newest iteration of Sacc Flight 1.7, which is sure to define the next generation of VRChat aviation for world creators that choose to delve into its upcoming features.
Connect with 'Sacchan'
Test Pilots | X.com | Github | Kofi
About the Writer
Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile.
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