All,I'm interested in adding a aircraft carrier just off the southern California coastline in FS2004. I've found a site that lets you download carriers. However, they don't explain how to add them. I'dlike to have a carrier parked just off the coast so I can try out new aircraft models and so-0n. Any help will be appreciated.

If the Carrier file you have got is the Arrcab carrier addon - the best way of installing is to unzip to a folder of your choice(EG New folder - anywhere as long as you can find it).Then you should see 3 items in the folder.....AIRCRAFT_CARRIER( folder)ArrCab25(Folder)Installation ( text file)The first is the actual carriers.Second is the arrester/catapult setup - but this will not work in FS2004 unless you have got the payware variety- There are however freeware alternatives- see below)Third is self explanitory but is angled to FS2002.This is how I do it...........Open Aircraft-Carriers and copy the 5 folders with titles AC CV67 CV68 etc to the Addon Scenery folder in FS9,Ignore the text file this can go into My Docs or wherever as it gives info on the lat/long etc of the vessels.Move the texture folder to FS9/texture.Start FS9 and go to the scenery Library ( Immediately after the Splashscreen - button at bottom left.)select Add Area - add all 5 Carrier areas. Then restart FS9 and they will be listed in Addon Scenery.As I said above the freeware FS2002 cat/arresters don't work in FS9 but if you go to the file library here you will find a file" rcbco-11-1.zip" by Rob Barendregt and Doug Dawson . This will enable you to add an arrester and catapult to your setup. There issome panel editing involved but full instructions are given.If you don't want to get involved in panel editing then I have uploaded a file to the library called" njco3.zip".This contains a generic 2D panel(with.cfg file) suitable for small naval jets( Buckeye/Sea Vixen /A-6/Demon/Banshee etc)with all the neccessary gauge controls already placed on the panel.All you have to do is add the neccessary files from the rcbco-11 zip to your gauges folder- no editing neccessary .If you have a different Aircraft carrier file - then you just need top follow the readme instruction but the placement of these vessels is pre-ordained by the original writer of the addon - you can't easily move them around.( there is the Waikito which is of New Zealand and another - can't remember the name which puts two vessels of the coast of Thailand- also there are now a couple of WW2 straight deck carriers available for FS9.The arrcab version will give you what you want - a carrier of the coast about 40 miles NW of San Diego( plus about a dozen others around the world)Have funDave Fagan

Dave,THANK YOU! Great info on adding carriers into FS. Adding a carrier off SOCAL was EXACTLY was I wanted to do. One item I didn't mention in my previous post is that I have purchased Aircraft Carrier 3 from Abacus. So, I may have rights to use the commercial version catapult and landing systems with other carriers.Anyway, I'm gonna take what you wrote and try to set up a carrier. I'll let you know how I do. Thanks again for the GREAT info! BTW, nice link to a nice web site. . ."HAWKMAN"

I bought Flight Deck III which includes ArrCab. It adds the basic a/c for a carrier. I also posted a question several weeks ago about the missing default carriers in FS9 and nobody seemed to know. I didn't notice the absence until after installing Flight Deck III and wondered if it over-wrote/excluded them. Anyway, check out free downloads of "CVN_7275.zip" and "Waikato1.zip" from avsim; 2 carriers off Thailand and one NE of Auckland, New Zealand. Let me know if you find the missing carriers ...Barry