What are FS2004 aircraft contact points and how do I fix them?

Aircraft contact points in FS2004 are invisible coordinates in an aircraft’s aircraft.cfg that tell the simulator where wheels, skids, floats and scrape points touch the ground. Fix them by backing up the file, matching each point to the model’s geometry, then adjusting position, compression and steering values in small increments.

Where are FS2004 contact points stored?

FS2004 stores them under the [contact_points] section of FS2004\Aircraft\AircraftFolder\aircraft.cfg. Each numbered point.N line defines a wheel or another place where the aircraft can contact the surface.

The numbering does not guarantee a point’s purpose. point.0 is often the nose or tail wheel, but the class and coordinates are what identify it. A typical line follows this order:

point.N = class, longitudinal, lateral, vertical, damage threshold, brake map, wheel radius, steering angle, suspension values, gear times, sound type, speed limits

Longitudinal values are positive ahead of the datum and negative behind it. Lateral values are positive towards the aircraft’s right and negative towards its left; vertical values are positive above the datum and usually negative below it. For the relationship between the datum, centre of gravity and contact geometry, see our explanation of how FS2004 aircraft configuration relates to the model.

How do I correct FS2004 aircraft contact points?

1. Back up the configuration. Copy aircraft.cfg before changing anything. Preserve every comma and use a full stop as the decimal separator.
2. Establish a repeatable test. Load the aircraft on a level hard-surface apron with the same fuel and payload each time. Weight changes suspension compression, so inconsistent loading gives misleading results.
3. Identify the load-bearing wheels. Use their longitudinal and lateral coordinates to distinguish the nose or tail wheel from the left and right main wheels. Do not start by changing scrape points.
4. Alter one coordinate at a time. Changes of roughly 0.05 to 0.10 feet are easier to assess than large corrections. Keep paired main-gear points symmetrical unless the real aircraft is asymmetrical.
5. Reload the aircraft. Select another aircraft and then reselect the edited one. Restart FS2004 if it continues using the previous values.
6. Test more than the parked stance. Taxi, steer, brake, take off, land and cycle retractable gear. A correction that looks right while parked can still cause bouncing, tipping or abnormal braking.

If edits appear to have no effect, confirm that you changed the active aircraft folder and that Windows actually saved the file. Installations under protected folders can prevent an editor from overwriting the original configuration.

Which value fixes an aircraft that sinks or floats?

The vertical position—the fourth field after the equals sign—is normally the value to adjust when the wheels do not meet the runway correctly.

• If the wheels sink below the runway, make the affected wheel point more negative. This places the invisible contact lower and raises the model.
• If the aircraft floats above the runway, make the point less negative. This moves the contact upwards and lowers the model.
• If the whole aircraft is equally high or low, adjust all load-bearing wheel points by the same amount.
• If only one wheel is wrong, correct that point and compare its suspension values with the matching wheel on the opposite side.

Do not use wheel radius as a substitute for the vertical coordinate merely to change the aircraft’s height. Radius should describe the wheel; the contact position establishes where it meets the surface.

The nearby static_pitch and static_cg_height entries describe the aircraft’s intended ground attitude and centre-of-gravity height. Check them when the entire aircraft loads at the wrong pitch, but do not use them to conceal one misplaced wheel.

Why does the aircraft bounce, tip or pull sideways?

Bouncing, tipping and pulling usually mean the contact geometry, suspension values or brake mapping disagree with the aircraft’s weight and undercarriage layout.

• Bouncing or jittering: compare static compression, maximum-to-static compression ratio and damping across the main wheels. Also check for duplicate wheel points or a scrape point placed below the tyres.
• Tipping onto the nose or tail: the wheel positions must form a stable support area around the projected centre of gravity. If the visual gear positions are correct, inspect the weight-and-balance configuration rather than moving the wheels unrealistically.
• Leaning to one side: paired main wheels should normally have matching vertical positions, radii and suspension settings, with equal and opposite lateral coordinates.
• Pulling under braking: check the brake-map field. The left and right main wheels must be assigned to the appropriate sides.
• No nose-wheel steering: verify that the steering-angle field is not zero and that it belongs to the correct wheel point. Also rule out controller assignments or a tail-wheel lock.

There are no universal contact-point values that work for every aircraft. Suspension settings from a similar default aircraft can provide a diagnostic starting point, but its coordinates should not be copied because the datum and model dimensions will differ.

Can contact points fix visual landing-gear errors?

No—contact points alter collision and ground behaviour, but they do not move the visible 3D wheels, struts or landing-gear animation. If the model itself has misplaced gear, aircraft.cfg can only make the invisible ground contact agree as closely as possible; correcting the mesh requires the model’s source files.

A missing comma, deleted field or invalid line can stop the aircraft loading altogether. If that happens, restore the backup first, then follow our checks for recovering from Aircraft Initialization Failure after configuration edits.