Why is an add-on aircraft invisible or incomplete in FSX or Prepar3D?

In FSX or Prepar3D, an add-on aircraft is usually invisible, skeletal or incomplete because its model or texture references are broken, required base-aircraft files are missing, or the model is incompatible with the simulator’s renderer. Test another livery first: one failed livery indicates a repaint fault; all failed liveries point to shared files.

What do the different symptoms mean?

The pattern of missing parts usually identifies whether the fault lies in the selected livery, the shared aircraft model or simulator compatibility.

How do I fix an invisible or incomplete aircraft?

Fix the aircraft by tracing the selected variation back through its configuration, model and shared texture files before reinstalling anything.

1. Compare another livery and a default aircraft

   Load every supplied variation of the affected aircraft. If one fails while the others work, concentrate on that variation’s [fltsim.x] entry and texture folder. If every variation loses the same parts, the shared model or base package is at fault.

   Then load a default aircraft and an unrelated add-on. Several unrelated aircraft failing after a graphics-setting or driver change indicates a simulator-wide rendering problem, not several damaged downloads.

2. Confirm that the download is a complete aircraft

   Many repaint downloads contain only a texture.xxx folder and a short configuration entry. They require the exact base aircraft and model variant named by the repaint author; a livery for one engine, wing or cargo variant cannot safely be assigned to another merely because the aircraft name is similar.

   Our guide to the correct FSX aircraft folder structure explains where the base model, repaint and configuration entry belong.

3. Check the aircraft folder structure

   In a conventional FSX installation, the aircraft folder sits in SimObjects\Airplanes or another configured SimObjects path. The folder that directly contains aircraft.cfg should also contain or correctly reference the required model, texture, panel and sound resources.

   Prepar3D can also load aircraft from a registered external add-on package, so they do not always belong inside the main simulator directory. In either simulator, an extra nested folder, files extracted into the wrong installation, or a repaint placed beside the base aircraft instead of inside it will break the package.

4. Match the aircraft.cfg entries to real folders

   Back up aircraft.cfg, then inspect the failing [fltsim.x] section. The suffix after model= chooses the model folder, while the suffix after texture= chooses the livery folder.

   • model=cargo requires model.cargo.
   • texture=BA requires texture.BA.
   • A blank model= selects the base model folder.
   • A blank texture= selects the base texture folder.

   The usual errors are a mismatched suffix, missing punctuation or absent folder. If you edit the file manually, make sure the editor has not saved it as aircraft.cfg.txt.

5. Inspect model.cfg and the model files

   Open the selected model folder and inspect model.cfg. Under its models section, normal= identifies the exterior model and interior= identifies the virtual-cockpit model. Confirm that the corresponding model files exist and that any relative references lead to the intended folder.

   A broken normal= reference can leave only the cockpit visible. A missing interior= reference removes the virtual cockpit, although this is normal for an aircraft designed solely for AI traffic or 2D-panel use. Do not substitute a similarly named model from another variant; its animations, contact points and texture mappings may differ.

6. Verify texture.cfg fallback paths

   A repaint often contains only its unique exterior textures. Its texture.cfg can direct the simulator to shared cockpit, wheel, propeller and material textures elsewhere in the aircraft package. Moving the repaint or installing it into a different base model can make those relative paths invalid.

   Compare the failing livery with a working one from the same aircraft. Check that every fallback destination exists and that shared files were not overwritten. If the geometry is present but the whole aircraft is untextured and white, follow our specific checks for solid-white FSX aircraft.

7. Perform a clean repair

   Back up added liveries and configuration changes, then move the old aircraft folder outside every scanned SimObjects location before reinstalling. This prevents stale files or duplicate copies from remaining underneath a fresh package.

   Use the supplied repair or uninstall process for installer-managed aircraft, since support files may be stored outside the aircraft folder. If a clean copy has the same fault and every reference is valid, the archive is incomplete or the model is incompatible with that simulator.

Why does only one repaint fail?

When one repaint fails but the other liveries work, the shared model is usually sound and the fault is confined to that repaint’s configuration or texture files.

• Make sure its texture= suffix exactly matches the texture folder.
• Confirm that model= selects the correct engine, wing, cargo or passenger model.
• Check that texture.cfg points to an existing shared texture folder.
• Verify that the repaint was made for that exact base-aircraft release.
• Restore the original package if the repaint replaced the entire aircraft.cfg or overwrote shared textures.

A repaint can still appear in the aircraft menu when the required base model is absent. The menu entry proves that the simulator recognised the variation; it does not prove that all of its model and texture dependencies are installed.

Why is the landing gear missing?

Missing landing gear usually indicates absent model geometry, shared gear textures, an animation state or incompatibility with a legacy model.

Command the gear down and allow its normal extension sequence to finish. Some complex aircraft also require electrical or hydraulic power, and an AI aircraft may not behave correctly when flown as a user aircraft.

• If every livery lacks gear, inspect the shared exterior model and test simulator compatibility.
• If one livery lacks gear, compare its shared textures and fallback paths with a working repaint.
• If the aircraft rests correctly on invisible wheels, the contact points work; the visual geometry or material does not.
• If it sinks into the ground or floats above it, inspect the [contact_points] configuration rather than the textures.
• If the gear vanishes only at a particular viewing distance, suspect the model’s level of detail.

Why do aircraft parts disappear at certain distances?

Parts that appear nearby but vanish as the camera moves away usually indicate faulty or unsuitable level-of-detail geometry built into the model.

Display settings may alter when the simulator changes detail level, but repaint edits cannot restore geometry omitted from a lower-detail model. Our guide to diagnosing aircraft parts and scenery objects that disappear in FSX covers LOD, culling and renderer-related causes.

Why is the cockpit visible but the gauges are blank?

A visible cockpit shell with empty instrument holes or black displays is a panel or gauge fault, not proof that the exterior model is incomplete.

Check the variation’s panel= suffix, its selected panel folder and the references inside panel.cfg. Gauge modules must also be compatible with the simulator: a 64-bit Prepar3D release cannot load an old 32-bit gauge module. Use our Prepar3D missing-instrument and blank-gauge checks for that separate failure.

If the entire virtual cockpit is black or transparent rather than just its displays, return to the interior model and shared cockpit texture fallbacks.

Is the aircraft incompatible with FSX or Prepar3D?

Compatibility is the leading cause when a complete, correctly referenced aircraft fails consistently in only one simulator or rendering mode.

FSX DX10 Preview

Older aircraft may work under FSX’s traditional renderer but show transparent surfaces, missing gear or broken materials with DX10 Preview enabled. If disabling DX10 Preview restores the complete aircraft, the package has a legacy rendering limitation rather than a missing repaint file.

Prepar3D

Prepar3D can load many FSX-era aircraft, but compatibility depends on the model and the Prepar3D generation. Older model formats, unsupported animations and legacy material techniques can produce invisible fuselages or missing components. Successful operation in FSX does not establish compatibility with every Prepar3D release.

Use the test results to identify the correct remedy:

• One variation fails: repair that repaint’s configuration and textures.
• Every variation fails identically: repair the shared model or reinstall the complete base package.
• It fails only with FSX DX10 Preview: use a compatible renderer or a replacement model.
• It works in FSX but not Prepar3D: obtain a version explicitly built or approved for that Prepar3D generation.
• Several unrelated aircraft fail: investigate simulator graphics settings, rendering caches and driver changes.
• A clean installation still fails with every reference correct: treat the package as incomplete, damaged or incompatible rather than continuing to rename files.