A Long Flight: How to Repair the Plane and Reattach Detached Parts

Quick answer

Repairs use one carry-and-install loop: press [F] to pick the detached part up, carry it to its blueprint on the plane, hold it against the blueprint until it turns green, then press [F] to install. Repeat for every part marked (detached) — the plane can start and fly again once they are all back on.

• Detached parts are labeled like 'Right Door (detached)' and show a '[F] to pick up' prompt when you look at them.
• The same interaction repairs the plane out in the field — one player reattached both wings after a hard landing and flew on.
• The ignition always goes back in last, after everything else is reattached.
• Reattaching parts doesn't add fuel — kerosene canisters are loot you pour into the tank separately.

Fixing the plane is physical: whatever broke off is lying on the ground, and you carry it back into place. The starting hangar tutorial teaches the flow, and the exact same interaction gets you airborne again after a bad landing out in the world. None of the observed repairs used a toolkit or consumable supplies — the pickup-and-place interaction is the whole repair.

How to reattach a detached part

1. Pick the part up. Look at it — detached parts are labeled "(detached)" and show a "[F] to pick up" prompt — and press [F].
2. Carry it to the plane. A blueprint on the airframe shows where the part belongs. The on-screen hint says: "Carry it to its blueprint - it clicks in when it turns green."
3. Hold the part against its blueprint until it turns green. The green "click in" is the game's signal that the alignment is right. If it won't line up, hold [RMB] and move the mouse to rotate the part while carrying it.
4. Press [F] to install.
5. Repeat for the rest. While parts are still missing, the game counts them for you: "Installed: 1 more parts are missing - put them back the same way."

The A Long Flight controls guide gathers the key bindings in one place if you want them side by side.

Parts this works on

The tutorial walks this exact flow for the right and left doors, the propeller/nose cone, the left and right wheels, the tail wheel and the engine itself. It is not a hangar-only routine, either: in one recorded run the same pickup-and-place routine reattached both wings after a hard landing, and at a later gas-station stop the player reinstalled the loose engine cover and doors before taking off again.

Nothing you attach is permanent — the freshly installed door shows a "[F] hold to remove" prompt, so a part can come back off if you need to refit it.

Install the ignition last

One part has a fixed place in the order. The tutorial states it directly: "Put the rest of Rusty back together first: 1 part still missing. The ignition goes in last." Once everything else is back on, pick up the ignition unit and install it in the cockpit with "[F] to install ignition" — then you can start the engine.

Repairing after a hard landing

When a landing goes badly, parts can tear off right where you set down. In one recorded run a landing left the plane "a big messed up", with both wings off. The player used the same carry-to-blueprint interaction right there in the field, got both wings back on, and flew to the next building.

Two practical notes from that run:

• Expect company. Zombies were at the crash site and they respawn over time, so the repair happened under pressure. Clear the area first or work fast.
• Fixed today can be loose tomorrow. At a later stop, the player found the engine cover and the doors loose and reinstalled them at a gas station before taking off again.

Common repair problems

Problems and fixes

A part is lying on the ground and you don't know how to attach it

A part only installs once it is carried to its blueprint on the plane

Suggested response

Press [F] to pick the part up, hold it against its blueprint until it turns green, then press [F] again to install.

The part won't click into place

It isn't lined up with its blueprint yet

Suggested response

Hold [RMB] and move the mouse to rotate the part while carrying it, then press it against the blueprint again until it turns green.

Parts tore off far from any hangar

A hard landing can detach parts like wings mid-run

Suggested response

Use the same pickup-and-place interaction right there — the recorded wing repair happened out in the field, and the plane flew afterwards.

You're not sure how many parts are still missing

Suggested response

Watch the on-screen counter, e.g. 'Installed: 1 more parts are missing - put them back the same way.', or count the parts still labeled (detached).

Everything is back on but the engine won't start

The ignition is still out — it goes in last, in the cockpit

Suggested response

Install the ignition with [F], then sit in the pilot seat [E] and hold [M] to start the engine, or look at the ignition and hold [M].

Fuel is a separate step

Reattached parts make the plane whole, but they don't put kerosene in the tank. Kerosene canisters are loot, not repair supplies — you'll find them in lootable buildings such as gas stations (along with spare wheels, water and other items you can stow in the plane's cargo room). Carry a canister to the fuselage side marked "CARGO" with the red fuel cap and you'll get "Hold [R] to pour", with readouts for the canister and tank levels beside it; "[Q] Attach Canister to the plane" is also available while holding one. The scavenging guide covers looting stops in more detail.

Once every part is back on, the tank holds kerosene and the ignition is in, hold [M] from the pilot seat to start the engine — how to start the engine and how to take off and fly cover the rest of the sequence, and the preflight checklist keeps the whole land–loot–repair–refuel loop on track.