Installing FS Aircraft downloads

Installing third party aircraft will greatly enhance your experience with FS2000.The majority of complaints installing aircraft stem from a lack of procedural knowledge.

If aircraft are not installed correctly, you may end up with errors. This guide will explain the most common area's of installation that need to be addressed.

Zip Utilities

You will need a 32 bit unzip utility to de-compress and install files from the net. There are many to choose from.

A 32 bit file manager, such as Windows Explorer, which is part of Windows 95/98, is also necessary to move/copy files during this process.

Note

It's important to Unzip your downloaded files into a temporary directory on your hard drive first.

Often, add-on downloads come with files already divided into separate directories.Simply unzipping them into FS2000 main folder may result in total file chaos!!

In this case, the simulator my not be able to find your files!

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You must have fs98converter installed - but DO NOT use this for installing. (included with FS2000)
You should have the FS2000 or FS98 patch(es) installed for your simulator.
Create 2 new folders in a convenient location. One will be the folder where you DOWNLOAD the files into. The downloaded files will be zipped. You could call this folder something like 'FS Zipped'. The other folder can be where you UNZIP your files into before installation. You could call this 'FS Temp'.By having these folders you can keep your system tidy, regularly deleting used or unwanted files without risking any damage to the FS2000/FS98 or other folders.

Manual Installation

The basic structure of FS2000, FS98 & CFS is the same. Most aircraft will be installed using the simple process illustrated below. It helps to learn this simple method - because it will help you understand the structure of MSFS/CFS & enable you to resolve any problems more easily.

When you've downloaded an aircraft your file will take the icon image of your zip utilty. Double click on the file.
Part 1. FS98 & CFS ready Aircraft Aircraft only :These aircraft will vary sometimes but mostly you will find 1 main folder with 4 sub folders & a few other files.To install - just move the main folder (containing 4 sub folders Model, Panel Sound & Texture + aircraft.cfg + .AIR file), in this case it is the 'conqu441', into the FS2000, FS98 or CFS AIRCRAFT folder. You can then start your simulator, select aircraft & the plane should be there.
Aircraft with Panel &/or Sound
Unzip into your 'FS Temp' folder. To install, simply copy the main folder into the AIRCRAFT folder in FS2000/ FS98 Next unzip the 'Gauges.zip' into the GAUGES folder in FS2000/ FS98 If there is also a 'Sound.zip' - read the 'Readme' document that came with the file. Usually the sounds will just go into the 'Sound' Sub folder for the aircraft you with to add the new sound to. If there are other folders or zips you should read the README or INSTALL text file for further information from the author. Files which are FS2000/ FS98 Ready but not 'Prepared' in the correct Folders Some plane designers do not present their masterpiece as a finished article. To resolve this : 1. Create 4 new sub- folders & name them - Model - Panel - Sound & Texture. You can create new folders by right clicking the mouse button & selecting - 'new' - 'folder'. Then type in the name when the folder appears on the screen.. 2. Drag & drop the 'model.cfg' '.MDL' file into the 'Model' folder. 3. Drag & drop the 'sound.cfg' into the 'Sound' folder. If there are additional sounds 'wav' files - these will also usually go here too - but read the authors 'Readme' for details. 4. Drag & drop the 'panel.cfg' & any other 'BMP' panel files into the 'Panel' folder. 5. Drag & drop the 'af' files into the 'Texture' folder. 6. The 'aircraft.cfg', '.air' remain outside the sub-folders. The readme file can be read if required. The remaining files can be ignored. 7. Now move the whole main folder, containing the newly craeated sub-folders, into the 'Aircraft' folder in FS98 & hopefully your plane will now fly!
Part 2 Aircraft made for FS95 or earlier FS versions Now just open your FS2000/ FS98 or CFS converter by double clicking on this FSconv in your FS2000/ FS98 directory.The CFS converter is very similar. You will then see this Select AIRCRAFT FILES now go to the folder FS TEMP created previously (or wherever you have unzipped your plane into) You should then see an '.air' file. Press 'Convert'...... & it's done! You should then be able to fly your plane.