How do I install aircraft liveries in Prepar3D?

To install an aircraft livery in Prepar3D, verify that the repaint matches the exact base aircraft, copy its texture folder into that aircraft’s active folder, and add the supplied [fltsim.x] entry to aircraft.cfg using the next sequential number. Back up the file, restart Prepar3D, then check the vehicle-selection filters.

Which type of livery package should I install?

Use the installation method dictated by the package: a texture-only repaint requires manual configuration, while an installer, livery manager or add-on.xml package should retain its supplied structure.

A repaint is not a flyable aircraft. It must match the developer’s exact base model, aircraft variant and, where specified, Prepar3D generation. A livery labelled for a 737-800 will not work with every 737-800 add-on because each model can use different texture mapping and file names.

If the download contains a whole aircraft rather than only textures, follow our explanation of installing a complete aircraft and its Prepar3D package structure. Before downloading a repaint, our advice on checking the required base aircraft and livery compatibility helps prevent the most common mismatch.

Where do I find the aircraft folder and the installed livery?

The active aircraft folder is traditionally under Prepar3D\SimObjects\Airplanes\AircraftName, but an add-on.xml aircraft may be stored in a separate package directory containing its own SimObjects\Airplanes path.

Package locations are not fixed. They may be under a version-specific Prepar3D add-ons folder in Documents or in another directory chosen by the installer. Examine the package’s add-on.xml path or search for the aircraft’s aircraft.cfg. If several copies exist, the active one is normally the copy containing the variations already visible in Prepar3D and referenced by the enabled package.

Do not place an aircraft repaint in Prepar3D’s global Texture folder. It belongs beside the relevant aircraft’s model, panel, sound and existing texture folders.

Inside Prepar3D, the installed paint normally appears in the vehicle-selection screen as another variation of the base aircraft, not as a separate aircraft type. Its location in that screen is controlled by fields such as ui_manufacturer, ui_type and ui_variation. Clear restrictive search or category filters if it is not where expected.

How do I install a Prepar3D livery manually?

A manual installation consists of adding the repaint’s texture folder to the correct base aircraft and registering that variation in the same aircraft’s aircraft.cfg.

1. Confirm the required aircraft. Read the repaint’s installation notes and check the developer, model variant and supported simulator. Do not rely on the real aircraft name alone.
2. Extract the download first. Unpack it into a temporary folder outside Prepar3D so that you can inspect its structure. Do not edit or run files while they remain inside the compressed archive.
3. Close Prepar3D. This prevents the simulator or an aircraft utility from retaining an old configuration while files are being changed.
4. Find and back up the active configuration. Locate the aircraft folder Prepar3D actually loads, then save an untouched copy of aircraft.cfg somewhere safe.
5. Copy the complete texture folder. Place a folder such as texture.Operator directly inside the aircraft folder. Check that extraction has not produced an extra level such as texture.Operator\texture.Operator.
6. Add the variation entry. Open aircraft.cfg in a plain-text editor, paste the supplied [fltsim.x] block after the existing variations and replace x with the next number. Never replace the whole configuration file with one supplied for a repaint.
7. Check its mappings. Confirm that texture=Operator matches the suffix in texture.Operator. Preserve the supplied sim=, model=, panel= and sound= values because they select parts of the base aircraft.
8. Save and restart. Make sure the file is still named aircraft.cfg, not aircraft.cfg.txt. If Windows blocks saving in a protected installation directory, edit a copy and move it back while approving the required file permission.

Keep every file supplied inside the repaint folder, especially texture.cfg. Many liveries contain only the exterior textures that differ from the default paint; texture.cfg supplies fallback paths for shared cockpit, glass, interior and material textures.

What should the aircraft.cfg livery entry contain?

The [fltsim.x] entry connects the selection-menu variation to the correct simulation, model and texture folders.

• [fltsim.x] must have its own number. Keep entries continuous, such as [fltsim.0], [fltsim.1] and [fltsim.2]; duplicate numbers and gaps can prevent variations later in the file from being read correctly.
• title= must be unique among loaded aircraft configurations. Copying another variation without changing its title is a common reason the new paint is ignored.
• texture=Operator points to texture.Operator. A plain folder named texture normally uses an empty texture= value.
• model= chooses a model-folder suffix. For example, a winglet, cargo or engine variant may have a dedicated model folder; do not change this field merely to match the operator name.
• sim=, panel= and sound= should normally remain identical to a working entry for the same aircraft variant.
• ui_manufacturer=, ui_type= and ui_variation= determine how and where the livery is labelled in vehicle selection.

If the repaint supplies no configuration block, duplicate a working entry for the exact same model variant. Change only its section number, unique title, texture, variation name and any optional operator or registration details. Guessing the model= or sim= value can produce an invisible or unusable aircraft.

Do advanced flight simulator add-ons install differently?

Yes: advanced flight simulator aircraft often use a dedicated livery manager, generated configuration files or an external add-on package instead of a simple manual edit.

Use the manager when the aircraft documentation requires it. Point it to the exact supported Prepar3D installation and avoid installing the same paint manually as well, which can create duplicate titles or texture folders. Aircraft updates may regenerate aircraft.cfg, so manager-installed liveries are also less likely to disappear after servicing.

Aerosoft aircraft are a common example of products that may use a utility for one release but manual files for another; our Aerosoft-specific repaint instructions explain when to use each method.

For an add-on.xml package, preserve the supplied root folders and file relationships. Do not pull only the texture folder out unless the readme explicitly gives a separate manual method. Prepar3D can load package content from outside its main installation directory, so absence from the traditional SimObjects\Airplanes folder does not mean it was installed incorrectly.

Installed the livery but get “nada” — why does nothing appear?

When an installed livery produces nothing in vehicle selection, the cause is usually the wrong aircraft folder, an invalid [fltsim.x] entry, a duplicate title or an incompatible base model.

• No new variation appears: verify that you edited the active aircraft.cfg, used the next section number and assigned a unique title=. Clear the vehicle-selection filters and search for the value entered under ui_variation=.
• The original paint appears instead: check that the texture= value exactly matches the suffix of the new texture folder, including punctuation and spaces.
• The aircraft is black, grey or partly untextured: restore the supplied texture.cfg and all accompanying texture files. This symptom commonly means that fallback textures are missing or that the repaint was mapped for a different model.
• The aircraft is invisible or reports a model problem: restore the original sim= and model= values from a working variation of the same aircraft.
• Prepar3D reports a configuration or content error: restore the backup, then add the repaint block again carefully. Check the section brackets, numbering and file name before changing any other simulator files.
• The livery disappears after an aircraft update: the updater probably replaced or rebuilt aircraft.cfg. Restore the backed-up variation entry or reinstall the paint through the aircraft’s supported livery manager.

What does a “DA error” mean?

“DA error” is not a standard Prepar3D livery-installation message, so those two letters alone do not identify a particular fault. The complete message and the program displaying it are needed: an archive extractor, aircraft installer, livery manager and Prepar3D itself can all fail for different reasons.

If the error appears while extracting the download, verify that the archive finished downloading and extract it to a normal temporary folder before installation. If it comes from a livery manager, confirm that the manager supports the installed aircraft and Prepar3D edition, and that it is writing to the active aircraft directory. If Prepar3D shows the error only after editing aircraft.cfg, restore the backup and inspect the new [fltsim.x] block for malformed brackets, duplicate numbers or an invalid path.

Do not install random replacement DLL files or alter Windows system files based only on the phrase “DA error”. If “DA” identifies a particular aircraft or utility, retain the full error text because that identifies the component requiring attention.

Can FSX liveries work in Prepar3D?

Sometimes, but only when the FSX repaint uses the same underlying base model, texture mapping, folder names and model variant installed in Prepar3D.

A texture-only repaint is more portable than the aircraft containing it, but it cannot make an incompatible FSX aircraft work in Prepar3D. Differences between aircraft releases may introduce new material maps, revised geometry or different fallback paths. The livery may therefore load with missing sections, incorrect reflections or mismatched surfaces even when its [fltsim.x] entry appears.

The base aircraft’s Prepar3D compatibility comes first. If that aircraft does not support the relevant Prepar3D generation, adding an FSX repaint will not correct its gauges, modules, model or flight-system compatibility.