Download free aircraft for MSFS 2024/2020, FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane, with compatibility checks, installation help and legal torrent guidance.
Download free aircraft legally from Fly Away Simulation’s freeware library for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020, FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane. Choose your exact simulator and version, then check whether the file is a complete flyable aircraft or merely a repaint requiring a separate base model.
Where are the free aircraft downloads?
Use our freeware library organised by simulator, not just by aircraft type. We have served simmers since the early Flight Simulator era, and one compatibility lesson has remained constant: an aircraft built for one simulator will not normally work in another.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020: Select an MSFS package whose listing names your release. Our complete MSFS general-aviation downloads include aircraft such as the Van’s RV-7/RV-7A and Tecnam P92; check each description for 2020 or 2024 compatibility.
- Flight Simulator X: Browse the aircraft catalogue made specifically for FSX. It covers civil, military, historic and general-aviation types, but individual files may be complete packages, repaints or older conversions.
- Prepar3D: Choose a download naming the relevant Prepar3D generation. An FSX origin does not guarantee that its model, gauges or compiled modules will work in Prepar3D.
- X-Plane: Match the aircraft to your installed major X-Plane version. MSFS, FSX and X-Plane use different aircraft formats and are not interchangeable.
Which aircraft download matches my simulator?
The correct file must match the simulator family, the relevant major release and any operating-system requirements stated for plugins or modules.
| Simulator | What to download | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| MSFS 2024 or 2020 on PC | A package explicitly listed for your release, or for both | Assuming every MSFS 2020 aircraft works unchanged in MSFS 2024 |
| FSX or FSX: Steam Edition | An FSX aircraft containing the full model and required components | Installing an FS2004 conversion or texture-only repaint without reading its limitations |
| Prepar3D | A package naming the supported Prepar3D generation | Using old 32-bit FSX gauges or modules in a 64-bit Prepar3D release |
| X-Plane | An aircraft built for the installed major version, with compatible plugins where used | Trying to install an FSX or MSFS archive, or using a plugin compiled for another operating system |
| MSFS on console | Aircraft distributed through the simulator’s supported in-sim channels | Trying to sideload a PC archive onto Xbox or PlayStation |
Can you download planes for Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024?
Yes, PC users can install compatible freeware aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024; console users cannot install the same third-party ZIP archives.
Most manually installed MSFS packages go in the active Community folder. Its location varies with the platform installation and any custom packages path. At the add-on package root, you would normally expect to find manifest.json and layout.json; if those files sit inside an unnecessary extra wrapper folder, the simulator may not detect the aircraft.
Do not treat “MSFS” as a single compatibility label. Some aircraft made for MSFS 2020 also work in MSFS 2024, but systems, configuration and flight-model differences can still cause faults. A package made for MSFS 2024 should not be assumed to work in MSFS 2020 either.
On Xbox Series X|S, aircraft must come through supported in-sim distribution. The same restriction applies to MSFS 2024 on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro, where the simulator launched on 8 December 2025. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 was never released on PlayStation.
Is there a legitimate Microsoft Flight Simulator torrent or free MSFS download?
Fly Away Simulation does not provide Microsoft Flight Simulator torrents, cracks or unauthorised full-game installers. Our free downloads are aircraft and other add-ons; they do not include the commercial base simulator needed to run them.
Torrent technology itself is not illegal, but distributing a commercial simulator without the rights holder’s permission is. Files advertised as a “Microsoft Flight Simulator torrent”, “Flight Simulator 2020 torrent” or “MSFS download free” may also contain modified executables, malware or incomplete files and may not support normal updates.
“Flight Simulator 2026” is not a Microsoft product title. The release relevant to searches for a “Flight Simulator 2026 torrent” is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which launched on PC and Xbox on 19 November 2024 and received Sim Update 5 in April 2026. Obtain commercial simulators through their authorised platform channels; if the base simulator itself must cost nothing, compare flight simulators that are genuinely free to use.
Is the download a complete aircraft or only a repaint?
Read the file description and requirements rather than judging from the screenshots. A screenshot may show a complete aeroplane even when the archive contains only replacement textures.
- Complete aircraft: Includes the flyable model and essential configuration, plus its own or correctly aliased cockpit, sounds and other required components. Look for wording such as “complete package” or “base model included”.
- Repaint or livery: Supplies textures for an aircraft that must already be installed. Phrases such as “texture only”, “requires the base aircraft” and “repaint for” identify this type.
- Aircraft enhancement: Modifies a default, freeware or commercial aircraft rather than adding a standalone model. It will not work without the named original.
- Conversion or port: Brings an older model into a newer simulator. Visuals may work while gauges, animations, sounds or systems remain limited.
- AI aircraft: Intended primarily for computer-controlled traffic. It may have no usable cockpit and may not appear as a normal flyable aircraft.
“Freeware” describes the licence or cost, not whether the package is standalone. A free repaint can still require a separately installed base aircraft, including one that is not free.
How do I install a downloaded aircraft?
The safest method is to extract and inspect one package at a time, follow its included instructions and test it before installing anything else.
- Verify the listing. Confirm the simulator, supported release, required base aircraft and any dependencies. Do this before extracting files into the simulator.
- Extract to a temporary folder. Do not copy directly from an unopened archive. Inspect the folder structure and remove only an obvious outer wrapper folder, not folders that form part of the add-on itself.
- Check the contents. Scan the archive with your normal security software. An installer or executable may be legitimate, but run it only when the documentation explains its purpose and destination; never disable security protection merely to launch an unknown file.
- Read the supplied documentation. Some aircraft need additional effects, gauges, plugins, libraries or a specific base model. Copying only the main aircraft folder can leave the cockpit, sounds or textures broken.
- Place the package in the correct location.
- For MSFS on PC, place the package folder in the active
Communityfolder unless its instructions provide a supported installer. - For FSX aeroplanes, the folder containing
aircraft.cfgnormally belongs underSimObjects\Airplanes. Use the corresponding rotorcraft location when the documentation specifies it, and install supporting effects or gauges only as directed. - For Prepar3D, use the package’s add-on method when it supplies one. Do not copy an FSX package into Prepar3D merely because the folder structure looks familiar.
- For X-Plane, place the aircraft folder containing the relevant
.acffile beneath the simulator’sAircraftfolder.
- For MSFS on PC, place the package folder in the active
- Test at a simple location. Load the aircraft at a default airport and check the exterior model, cockpit, instruments, controls, sounds and animations. If it fails, remove that package before testing another.
- Keep the original archive. Retaining the download and its instructions makes repairs and clean removal much easier, especially when an aircraft installs supporting files in several folders.
Why does the downloaded aircraft not appear or work?
An aircraft that fails after installation usually has the wrong folder depth, incompatible version, missing base model or uninstalled dependency.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft is absent from the selection menu | Nested folder, wrong simulator version, invalid package structure or AI-only model | Open the installed folder and compare its top level with the documentation; confirm that the listing describes a flyable aircraft |
| Aircraft appears white, pink or partly invisible | Missing textures, incorrect texture reference or repaint without its base model | Install the exact required base aircraft and preserve the supplied texture folder names |
| Cockpit is blank or instruments do not work | Missing gauges, unsupported module or incomplete conversion | Check dependencies and use a package made for the installed simulator generation |
| There is no sound | Missing sound files or an alias pointing to an aircraft that is not installed | Read the sound requirements and install the named dependency rather than copying unrelated sound folders |
| The simulator crashes or hangs while loading | Unsupported code, damaged files, duplicate packages or a conflict with another add-on | Remove the new aircraft, confirm the simulator starts normally, then reinstall only that package and its documented dependencies |
A mistake we see constantly is changing several folders at once while troubleshooting. Make one correction, restart the simulator and test again; otherwise, there is no reliable way to identify which change fixed or caused the fault.