Why is an add-on aircraft invisible or incomplete in FSX/P3D?

In FSX and Prepar3D, an add-on aircraft that is invisible, skeletal or missing landing gear usually has a broken model or texture reference, an incomplete base-aircraft or repaint installation, or a model the simulator cannot render correctly. Test another livery first: it quickly separates repaint faults from failures in the shared aircraft model.

What do the different symptoms mean?

If the aircraft appears in the selection menu and can be loaded, the simulator has found its aircraft.cfg entry. The failure is usually in a model, texture or compatibility layer that comes afterwards.

An aircraft absent from the menu has a different installation problem. Start with our checks for aircraft missing from the selection menu instead.

How do I fix an invisible or incomplete aircraft?

Work through the package from the selected variation back to its shared files. Reinstalling repeatedly will not fix an incorrect alias or a model built for an unsupported simulator.

1. Test another livery and another aircraft

   Load every variation supplied with the same aircraft. If one fails while the others work, concentrate on that variation's [fltsim.x] entry and texture folder. If every variation has the same missing parts, the fault is probably in the shared model.

   Also load a default aircraft and an unrelated add-on. Several unrelated aircraft failing after a display or driver change points to a simulator-wide graphics problem rather than one package.

2. Confirm that you installed the complete aircraft

   Many livery downloads contain only a texture.xxx folder and a configuration entry. They still require the exact base aircraft, model and variant named in the repaint instructions. A repaint for a passenger model cannot safely be assigned to a cargo, winglet or engine variant merely because the aircraft name looks similar.

   Check the archive or package documentation before moving files. If you need to verify the normal layout, follow our FSX aircraft installation and folder guide.

3. Check the aircraft folder structure

   In a conventional installation, the folder containing aircraft.cfg should also contain the model, texture, panel and sound folders used by the aircraft. FSX normally reads aircraft from a configured SimObjects\Airplanes location. Prepar3D may also load them through a registered external add-on package.

   An extra wrapper folder, a repaint copied beside rather than inside the base aircraft, or files extracted into the wrong FSX or Prepar3D installation can leave the package incomplete. Missing panel or sound folders may be legitimate aliases; missing model files are not.

4. Match the aircraft.cfg suffixes to real folders

   Back up aircraft.cfg, then open the failing [fltsim.x] section. The value after model= selects the matching model folder, while texture= selects the repaint folder.

   • model=cargo requires a folder named model.cargo.
   • texture=BA requires a folder named texture.BA.
   • A blank model= uses the base model folder.
   • A blank texture= uses the base texture folder.

   Windows normally treats letter case as equivalent, so the usual error is a wrong suffix, misplaced punctuation or absent folder. When saving a manual edit, make sure the file has not become aircraft.cfg.txt.

5. Inspect model.cfg and its model files

   Open the selected model folder and then model.cfg. Under its models section, normal= identifies the exterior model and interior= identifies the virtual cockpit model. Some packages use relative paths to borrow one or both from another folder or base aircraft.

   Verify that every target exists and that the corresponding model file was extracted. A broken normal= reference can leave only the cockpit visible; a broken interior= reference removes the virtual cockpit shell. Restore missing files from the correct package rather than substituting a similarly named model from another aircraft.

6. Check texture.cfg fallback paths

   Repaints often contain only their unique livery textures. A small texture.cfg file directs FSX or Prepar3D to shared cockpit, gear, propeller and material textures in another folder. Those fallback paths are relative to the repaint's location, so moving the repaint to a different aircraft can break them.

   Compare the failing folder with a working livery from the same package. Check that its fallback destination exists and that expected shared files were not overwritten or deleted. Do not rename individual texture files by guesswork: the model expects their original internal names.

   If the complete model is visible but all its surfaces are plain white, use our more specific diagnosis for solid-white FSX aircraft textures.

7. Rule out an AI-only aircraft

   AI traffic models are deliberately simplified. They may have no virtual cockpit, fewer animations, reduced detail and model levels designed to disappear at traffic-viewing distances. Turning one into a selectable aircraft does not add the geometry or systems that were never built.

8. Perform a clean repair only after checking the references

   Back up any added liveries and configuration changes, then move the old aircraft folder outside every scanned SimObjects location before reinstalling. This prevents stale aliases and modified files from surviving underneath a fresh copy.

   For an aircraft managed by an installer, use its repair or uninstall process rather than moving individual support files. If a clean copy has the same fault and all referenced files exist, compatibility becomes the leading explanation.

Why does only one repaint fail?

One broken livery almost always means the shared aircraft model is sound and the repaint installation is not. Compare the failing variation directly with a working one from the same aircraft.

• Confirm that its texture= value matches the actual folder suffix.
• Check that it uses the correct model= variant.
• Verify that its texture.cfg points to an existing shared texture folder.
• Make sure the repaint was made for that exact base model, engine and geometry variant.
• Restore the original package if installing the repaint overwrote shared textures or aircraft.cfg.

A common mistake we see is treating a repaint as a complete aircraft. The new variation can still appear in the menu even though essential base-model or shared texture files were never installed.

Why is the landing gear missing?

Missing landing gear normally comes from the exterior model, shared gear textures or legacy animation compatibility. First command the gear down and allow time for its normal extension sequence; some complex aircraft also require hydraulic power or an alternate extension procedure.

• If every livery lacks gear, inspect the shared exterior model and test compatibility.
• If one livery lacks gear, compare its shared and fallback textures with a working repaint.
• If the aircraft rests correctly on invisible wheels, its contact points are working but the visual geometry or material is not.
• If the aircraft sinks into the ground or floats above it, inspect its contact-point configuration rather than its textures.
• If the gear vanishes only as the camera moves away, suspect a faulty model level of detail.

Why is the cockpit visible but its gauges are blank?

A visible cockpit shell with empty instrument holes or black displays is not an exterior-model failure. Prepar3D may be missing gauge files, dependencies or valid panel references, and its 64-bit releases cannot load old 32-bit gauge modules; our Prepar3D panel and missing-gauge checks cover that fault separately.

Is the aircraft too old for FSX or Prepar3D?

Compatibility is the likely cause when a complete, correctly referenced package fails consistently in one simulator or display mode. Being selectable does not prove that its model format, materials and animations are fully supported.

FSX and DX10 Preview

FSX can load many older FS2004-era models under its traditional renderer, but DX10 Preview exposes weaknesses in legacy materials, transparency and animations. If the aircraft works normally with DX10 Preview disabled, the package has a rendering limitation rather than a missing repaint file.

Prepar3D

Prepar3D accepts many FSX-native models, but compatibility varies by aircraft and Prepar3D generation. Legacy FS2004 geometry, old material techniques and unsupported animations can produce transparent fuselages, absent gear or dead components. An aircraft working in FSX does not establish compatibility with every Prepar3D release.

Use these results to make the final decision:

• One variation fails: repair its configuration or repaint.
• Every variation fails identically: repair the shared model or base package.
• It fails only under FSX DX10 Preview: use the supported renderer or replace the legacy model.
• It works in FSX but not Prepar3D: use a version explicitly built or approved for that Prepar3D generation.
• Several unrelated aircraft fail: investigate simulator graphics settings or cached rendering data.
• A clean install still fails with every reference correct: the package itself is incompatible, incomplete or damaged.