Hi Guys - I have some freeware planes in my collection that id like to 'mix up'. How would i create a 'new' plane, for example use the 2D panel from one, and the external model from another?I have a really nice A380 model and a different 2D panel that id like to put with it.Thanks for your help.

This is one of those relatively easy things to do, but as with all this kind of thing, making a back up is advisable (in this case you can simply copy the entire folder for the aircraft you are messing with, sling the copy on the desktop, and if it all goes horribly wrong, then you can simply repair the original with your back up, although really you would only need to do that with the panel folder itself). Also advisable is trying it on something you are not worried about messing up too much.So, for an example, if you look in this folder (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\SimObjects\Airplanes\B737_800\panel) you'll find all the stuff for the B737 panel. and if you open up the configuration file you can find in that folder in the text application, Notepad, you will see how FSX uses that stuff, i.e. in the config file, it says this near the top://--------------------------------------------------------[Window00]file_1024=737-800_panel_background.bmpfile_1024_night=737-800_panel_background_night.bmpsize_mm=1024position=7visible=1ident=MAIN_PANELNotice that it names the file '1024=737-800_panel_background.bmp' as 'window 00', i.e. it is telling FSX to use that image of a B737 panel you can find in the panel folder as window 00, i.e. the main 2D panel view.Whereas in the FSX Cessna 172 panel config file, it says this for the same part:[Window00]file_1024=cessna_172_background.bmpfile_1024_night=cessna_172_background_night.bmpsize_mm=640position=7visible=1no_luminous=1ident=MAIN_PANELzorder=0windowsize_ratio=1.000window_pos=0.0,0.0window_size=1.000,1.000view_window_rect=0,0,8192,4000So we can see from this, that all you have to do is tell FSX which files to use in the panel config text file, and have those files where FSX can find them, and that will be enough for FSX to load up that panel for a particular aircraft.So, try this...Right click on the B737 panel folder inside the B737 aircraft folder and copy it, then paste it onto the desktop (that's your back up made). Now go to the C172 aircraft folder and copy the panel folder, then paste it into the B737 folder, (it will ask you to confirm overwriting the one that is there, which we can do, because we have a back up on the desktop). Now, to get this to work, open up the 737 config file that is in your back up copy of the 737 panel folder on the desktop, and highlight this bit of text which is right at the top:// Panel Configuration file// Boeing 737-800// Copyright

WOW, thanks, Al !!!Exactly what i was looking for. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!!!!:-)