Where does FS2004 store installed aircraft?

In Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 (FS9), installed aircraft are stored in the Aircraft folder directly inside the active Flight Simulator 9 installation. Find the folder containing fs9.exe, then open Aircraft. Each complete aircraft normally has its own subfolder containing aircraft.cfg, plus model, panel, sound and texture folders.

Where is the FS2004 Aircraft folder?

For a standard installation, the FS2004 aircraft folder is commonly found at one of these locations:

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft

Those are only default examples. FS2004 may have been installed on another drive or in a custom folder, so the location containing the copy of fs9.exe that you actually launch is the reliable one.

How do I find the active FS2004 installation?

1. Locate your FS2004 shortcut. Right-click the shortcut used to start the simulator and select Properties, or use Windows' Open file location command if available.
2. Check the target. The shortcut should point to fs9.exe. Open the folder containing that file.
3. Open the Aircraft folder. It should sit directly beside fs9.exe and other main FS2004 files and folders.
4. Confirm that it is the right copy. The folder should contain subfolders for default aircraft. If your computer has several FS2004 installations, follow the shortcut you normally use rather than relying on a Windows search result.

Our FS2004 add-on folder-structure walkthrough explains how the simulator root and aircraft package folders fit together.

How can I identify a particular installed aircraft?

The aircraft's folder name does not have to match the name shown in FS2004's aircraft-selection menu. To identify it, open its aircraft.cfg file in a plain-text editor and inspect the [fltsim.x] sections.

• ui_manufacturer, ui_type and ui_variation control how the aircraft and livery are presented in the selection menu.
• title is the aircraft variation's internal identity and should be unique.
• texture points to the corresponding texture folder, such as texture or texture.example.
• sim identifies the flight-dynamics file used by that entry.

One aircraft folder can therefore contain several selectable liveries. Conversely, a folder found under Aircraft may be AI-only, incomplete or otherwise unsuitable for selection as a flyable aircraft.

Why does an installed aircraft not appear in FS2004?

An aircraft usually fails to appear because FS2004 cannot find a valid aircraft.cfg at the expected folder level or cannot load the files referenced by it. Check these common causes:

• Nested folders: The immediate aircraft subfolder should contain aircraft.cfg. A structure such as Aircraft\AddonName\AddonName\aircraft.cfg is usually one level too deep.
• Repaint-only package: A download containing just a texture folder is normally a livery for an existing base aircraft, not a complete aircraft. Follow the correct repaint installation and aircraft.cfg entry process.
• Wrong FS2004 copy: An installer may have detected an old or secondary FS9 installation. Compare its destination with the shortcut target for the simulator you launch.
• Missing or mismatched files: Check that aircraft.cfg, the referenced flight-dynamics file and a valid model are present. Panel and sound folders may be replaced by valid aliases to another aircraft.
• Package made for another simulator: An FSX or newer-simulator aircraft cannot be assumed to work in FS2004 merely because it was copied into the Aircraft folder.
• FS2004 was already running: Close and restart the simulator after adding or changing aircraft files.

Could Windows VirtualStore contain the aircraft?

Windows may redirect files written by older, non-elevated programs when FS2004 is installed under Program Files. If an installer reports success but its files are absent from the real Aircraft folder, inspect %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore for a mirrored Flight Simulator 9 path.

VirtualStore can leave the aircraft split between two locations, producing confusing differences between Windows Explorer, an editor and FS2004. Back up the package, consolidate its files into the active Aircraft folder with suitable write permission, and avoid maintaining two different copies of aircraft.cfg.

Can I rename an FS2004 aircraft folder?

Renaming sometimes works, but we advise against it unless you have checked every dependency. Repaints, installers, and panel or sound aliases can refer to an aircraft folder by name, while the name displayed inside FS2004 normally comes from the ui_ fields in aircraft.cfg, not the Windows folder name.