Damon and all, VIP2I went to the link and requested the download after reading your post. But then I saw the "Account Registration (Free Download)" link on the left side panel of the page. I clicked on it and filled in the simple registration form and entered my name, email address, and my VATSIM user ID, then selected a password.Next I checked my email client and copied down the login number that was sent automatically by the VIP server. When I clicked on the link at the bottom of the email, it took me straight to the download prompt for the user name and password. After entering those the download followed. I did not realize I was so far behind already in versions so I took the opportunity to update myself.Now here is where it got a little dicey. Winzip was unwilling to extract the "Thumbs.db" files in the download. After a few minutes of cussing, I found that it was a software (XP I think) problem that required me to delete the contents of the fsidc folder from the original VIP install (NOTE THIS FACT, Rob, Murf, Ian, Gregg, and ...)After getting all that figured out I simply unzipped the entire download ("use folder names" checked in Winzip) to the FS2002Aircraft directory.The next thing you have to do is transfer the "CSL_ICAO.csv" file from the aircraft directory to your squawkbox root directory. Now before you do that let me tell you a couple of things.- Start by backing up your existing (original SB CSL file or previous VIP CSL file) "CSL_ICAO.csv" file by changing its name or something.- Then copy over the new CSL file from the aircraftfsidc directory that you just downloaded and placed there.THIS IS MY METHOD to fine tune SB, NOT RECOMMENDED for someone who has LITTLE or NO knowledge of USING MS Excel.- Open up both CSL files (the one you renamed and the new one). These open up in Excel when I click on them.- Copy all the rows (aircraft) that begin with "CSL" from your renamed (backed up) CSL file then insert them at the end of the new VIP CSL file and resave it. If this is your first installation of VIP, you would want to select all of the lines and copy them to the new CSL file. This allows you to keep all of your previous aircraft that were selectable when choosing an aircraft in the SB File Flight Plan window. Remember, you should still have all of your original SB CSL aircraft in your FS2002aircraft directory so you will still be able to see aircraft that are on the network who selected those aircraft when they logged in. Adding them back into the CSL file in SB simply allows you to still select them when you log in if you want to. It has nothing to do with what you see when you look out the window.- Now here is another trick/tip. Before closing up the Excel program with your newly appended CSL file, scroll down through the file looking for the aircraft the you actually fly on VATSIM. Select the row (right click on the row number) that those aircraft are on (do this one by one) and select "cut". Then move up to the top of the file (row 1), select row 1 (right click on the row number) and select "insert cut cells". Do that for each of the aircraft you fly. Then simply resave the file before closing Excel. This enables you to find "your" aircraft at the very top end of the list each time you file a flight plan and click the aircraft drop down menu so you don't have to go fishing through 1000 plus lines of aircraft to find the one you want to file in your FP. This is what controls what other pilots see you as but selection is required before you log into VATSIM for it to work. You can't change your mind or select another aircraft on a subsequent flight without first disconnecting from the VATSIM server, making your change, then reconnecting.OK, ABQ Center has me now, 280 miles to KPHX on my KSTL-KPHX run this evening. Got to go check some charts...

Thanks Mike, got the file downloaded and copied. One question:"When I open the original CSV file in Excel, the data is not in columns at all, it is just comma-delimited across each row. The new CSV file is in columns, so when I try to copy and insert the old data into the new file it gives me error messages.Can you help me with this if it is not too much trouble?Damon

When you opened the original file, did you just click on it or did you open Excel first and then open the csv from within Excel. If you did the later, try just clicking on the original csv. If you still have no joy, email me and I will zip up and send you my current csl file.

Thanks Mike, I got it figured out :-)Damon

Nice tip Mike, thanks very much.I have a question though....I already have a CSL sub-folder in my Aircraft folder. Do I delete that now that I have a FSIDC sub-folder in the Aircraft folder?

Never mind; I found the answer to my question.In addition to installing the FSiPC folder I also keep the CSL folder. The only change is that I replace the existing CSL_ICAO.csv file in Squawkbox with the one from FSiPC.BTW, I'm using an enhancement to the standard CSL aircraft file that comes with Squawkbox. It's some sort of beta version released earlier this year; I found it at http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/seang1/csl/index.html

Stiff,Thanks for the link to that beta download. I will back up my existing CSL folder in FS2002aircraft and try it out. And, then I will overwrite the CSL section of the CSL_ICAO.csv file in the SB directory with the updates.I notice that, all too often, aircraft pop into my session that are not found in either my CSL folder or the FSIDC folder and therefore appear with the same texture that I am currently flying. That beta update may help a bit as you know how that problem affects frame performance when a couple of others are in your session and are filed with an unknown aircraft type. I wish VATSIM would provide some leadership in keeping a master CSL file up to date with regularly updated textures and csv file but I guess they don't want to deal with the technical support that would go along with it.

Any problems with the beta CSL file you mentioned? Any additional frame rate hit from the "enhanced" textures?Damon

Mike, you're welcome.Your situation will be a bit unique since you're using the FSIDC aircraft also. In that case you'd probably want to do what I did:(1) Add the aircraft in the beta release to the existing CSL folder.(2) Cut and paste the information in the CSL_ICAO.csv file that comes with the beta release to the CSL_ICAO.csv file from FSIDC.(3) Sort the file by going to Data/Sort and sort on Column A Ascending then by Column B Ascending. ( I did it at first to check for duplicates...I didn't find any and the file appears neater.)(4) Move the livery you fly most often to the top of the list.I now have an 85K file with 1405 aircraft variants.... I wanted to test it but I'm having a lot of difficulty logging on to VATSIM...especially with Roger Wilco.

Gotcha Stiff, exactly how I was going to do it except I will paste the beta CSL_ICAO data over my CSL aircraft section of my current CSL_ICAO file. Right now, Rob and I are running with 1352 or so lines in the CSL_ICAO.csv.See ya up there,

I will let you know in a couple of days how it works for me. You can always back up your existing FS2002aircraftcsl folder and your existing SBCSL_ICAO.csv file and then plug the beta in and give it a test drive. If you don't like the result, just delete it all and restore from your back ups.Go for it!edit -> I highly recommend the VIP2 addition regardless of how the beta works out!