It is recommended that the default flight is loaded be before loading some complex add-on aircraft. Which default flight is this? - the initial default flight (AirTrike) when FSX is first run, or the current user-created default flight? If the former where can I find its file on XP after I've created my own default flight?

The original "default flight" is FSX\Flights\Other\FLTSIM.FLT... this is the one referred to.When you define a different "default" flight for yourself it is documented in the FSX.cfg in this line:[uSERINTERFACE]SITUATION=c:\users\dad\documents\flight simulator x files\-your selected flight-.FLTNow, I would save MY 'default' flight as something like "MYdefault.flt", then after FSX loads the "real" default flight - this is to get it started with a SAFE, RELIABLE aircraft - then I would load my default, preferred, or previous flight (which is what I typically use).You can also make a copy of the real/default flight and place it in the same folder with other saved flights and this would let you load it at your option - you can't normally select it from the flights\other folder.Regardless of what you choose as your default flight, if you comment out that "situation=" line you will get the original default.Loyd

It is recommended that the default flight is loaded be before loading some complex add-on aircraft. Which default flight is this? - the initial default flight (AirTrike) when FSX is first run, or the current user-created default flight? If the former where can I find its file on XP after I've created my own default flight?

Yes - the default flight is the Trike, and it's in the /%fs root%/Flights/other/FLTSIM.FLT. - however a better and more friendly/meaningful default flight can be created using the stock Cessna 172, at your favorite field. Flaps up, battery - off, mixture - idle cut-off, etc., - exactly cold and dark. Some of its' parameters will be passed into the next aircraft loaded, and you might encounter a problem or two, and it will be dependent upon the new aircraft. You may find that, for example - you now have no radio; well - there might not be a radio master in the new aircraft, and it's because you turned it off in the Cessna. This is about the only issue I've come across using the Cessna, so it does just fine for my standard default aircraft, and the scenario I use is at Renton, as it's local to a really dense area, yet has good access to open rural areas, too. I also use a separate folder - C:\users\pj\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX\Configs\, where I've created 7 or 8 different cfg's that I can call from a batch file, the default cfg being one of them. I use the initial base fsx.cfg as a measuring stick for testing purposes.

Thanks for the prompt and helpful reply.