Installing new aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 & 2000
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The procedure for installing downloaded aircraft in FS 98 is the same as for FS 2000, so one explanation is given here.

FOLDER STRUCTURE
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In your Flightsim folder on you harddisk, locate the folder named AIRCRAFT. Within this folder each aircraft type installed in FS has its own folder with a specific name. The learjet 45 folder for example is called LEAR45. The structure (four folders) below this folder is as shown below:

LEAR45 ----- MODEL
	 |
	 --- TEXTURE
	 |
	 --- SOUND
	 |
	 --- PANEL

When manually installing an aircraft this folder structure should be created for the new aircraft, see below for the full explanation.

INSTALLING THE AIRCRAFT FILES
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An aircraft will usually be downloaded as a ZIP file, so you need a program to uncompress this file. Winzip is the most common one, available at www.winzip.com.

After opening the ZIP file, be sure to read any README files that are included before continuing as these may explain additions or changes from the procedure described here.

Please note any folder names that are included in the zipped file. Sometimes the folder AIRCRAFT is included, sometimes LEAR45 (for example) but just the four folders below or not even these is possible. Unzip the files so that the folder structure as described above is created for the new aircraft type. If the folders are not created automatically, go to the manual procedure as described below.

IS A PANEL PROVIDED?
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Sometimes a panel is included and it installs itself, if not there are three options.
1. The aircraft uses a default panel. This needs no further additions.
2. The aircraft uses a panel from the Aircraft Converter. If the Aircraft Converter is not installed you will see a default panel but some gauges may be missing. Install the appropriate converter to remedy this. The file can be downloaded from www.flightsim.com.
3. Download and install a separate panel or assign an already installed panel from a different aircraft, see below.

INSTALLING A SEPARATE PANEL
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Unzip the panel files in a temporary folder and install them as follows: 
* all the gauges (*.gau) must be moved to the GAUGES folder under the main Flightsim folder.
* The panel backgrounds (*.bmp) go into the PANEL folder for the aircraft you wish to use the panel with.
* The PANEL.CFG file goes into the same PANEL folder. Overwrite or rename the existing PANEL.CFG file.

ASSIGNING AN ALREADY INSTALLED PANEL FROM A DIFFERENT AIRCRAFT
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There are two ways to use an already installed panel from a different aircraft with your new aircraft, assume the old aircraft is in the OLDPLANE folder and the new aircraft in the NEWPLANE folder:
1. copy the contents of the OLDPLANE/PANEL folder to the NEWPLANE/PANEL folder.
2. Create a new textfile in Notepad or the texteditor of your choice, and copy the following text into it, substituting the folder names of course:

[fltsim]
alias=OLDPLANE\panel

Now save the textfile with the name PANEL.CFG in the NEWPLANE/PANEL folder. Overwrite or rename the old file.

MANUALLY INSTALLING AN AIRCRAFT
-------------------------------
For this first you have to create the folders described before, for this explanation assume the main folder (and the name of the aircraft) is NEWPLANE. After this unzip the files to a temporary folder and sort them as follows:
* the AIRCRAFT.CFG and the NEWPLANE.AIR file go in the NEWPLANE directory.
* The NEWPLANE.MDL and MODEL.CFG file go in the NEWPLANE/MODEL directory.
* The SOUND.CFG and any *.WAV files provided go in the NEWPLANE/SOUND directory.
* The PANEL.CFG and any panel *.BMP files provided go in the NEWPLANE/PANEL directory.
* The texture files (*.0AF, *.1AF etcetera) go in the NEWPLANE/TEXTURE directory. With FS 2000 aircraft the Texture files can be in the *.BMP format as well, be careful not to mix these with the panel bitmaps.

Happy flying!