Hi there, I have noticed that I am missing the original cessna 172 in my aircraft directory

I can't imagine how you would have lost the original. Is it missing also when you search for it with the explorer? Are the other defaults still there? Because then it should be possible in my opinion to copy the original files (26 MB or so) from another simmer. But why would you bother when you can download the freeware 172 from Realair that is much better? Herrie

Yes, you can retrieve the original c172 from your FS9 CDs. Do a SEARCH for the topic and you'll get all of the previous responses to the same question...

"why would you bother when you can download the freeware 172 from Realair that is much better"Because several functions in FS are dependent upon the default C-172SP default paint and panel being present in FS. Remember it is the MAIN aircraft in FS - the first one loaded.Not having that aircraft in FS can easily create an aircraft initilization error where FS will not start. It can cause the Select Aircraft screen and the Create Flight screen that show the aircraft to appear as a black box.It can cause the Lessons to fail and on and on.Many addon aircraft will not function correctly without the C-172SP being loaded first.A substantial number of the CTD's and as much as a quarter of the times people have to remove and reinstall FS is because they have removed or messed with the title and configuration of the default C-172SP.Now you may not want to fly it - but you definitely need it.

I stand corrected!