How do I install aircraft liveries in Prepar3D?

To install an aircraft livery in Prepar3D, confirm that it matches the exact base aircraft, copy its texture folder into that aircraft’s folder, add the supplied [fltsim.x] block to aircraft.cfg, renumber the entry sequentially, and restart Prepar3D. Back up aircraft.cfg first; installers and add-on packages may use a different layout.

Which type of livery package do I have?

First determine whether the download is a repaint, an installer, an add-on package or a complete aircraft. Installing the wrong package type is a common reason for duplicated folders and missing aircraft.

A repaint does not include the flyable aircraft. It must name the exact required model, including the developer, aircraft variant and sometimes the Prepar3D generation. A 737-800 livery, for example, is not automatically compatible with every 737-800 add-on.

How do I install a Prepar3D livery manually?

A manual livery installation requires the repaint’s texture folder and a new variation entry in the base aircraft’s configuration file.

1. Extract the download outside Prepar3D. Read its installation notes and identify the required base aircraft before copying anything. A typical repaint package, such as this A330 texture-folder example, includes both the textures and the configuration text needed for installation.
2. Close Prepar3D. Editing an aircraft while the simulator is running can prevent the new variation from being detected and risks having changes overwritten.
3. Find the active base-aircraft folder. Traditionally this is under Prepar3D\SimObjects\Airplanes\AircraftName. Aircraft installed through the add-on package system may instead be inside a separate package directory containing its own SimObjects\Airplanes path. Use the copy containing the active aircraft.cfg; do not assume the main Prepar3D folder is the one being loaded.
4. Back up aircraft.cfg. Save an unchanged copy in a safe location before editing it.
5. Copy the complete texture folder. Place texture.Operator beside the aircraft’s existing model, panel, sound and texture folders. Check that extraction has not created an extra level such as texture.Operator\texture.Operator.
6. Add the supplied variation entry. Open aircraft.cfg in a plain-text editor, paste the supplied [fltsim.x] block after the existing entries and change x to the next unused sequential number. Do not replace the whole file.
7. Save and restart Prepar3D. If Windows will not let the editor save inside the installation directory, edit a copied file and then move it back with the required permission. Confirm that it remains named aircraft.cfg, not aircraft.cfg.txt.

Keep every file supplied inside the texture folder, especially texture.cfg. Many repaints contain only the textures that differ from the base paint and use that file to fall back to shared cockpit, glass or interior textures.

What should the aircraft.cfg livery entry contain?

The [fltsim.x] entry links the aircraft-selection variation to the correct model and texture folder. The supplied block should be used whenever possible because its model and texture mappings may be specific to that repaint.

• title= must be unique among all loaded aircraft entries.
• sim= must continue to reference the base aircraft’s correct simulation file.
• model= selects a model-folder suffix, such as a winglet or cargo variant. Do not change it merely to match the livery name.
• texture=Operator points to texture.Operator. The spelling must match exactly.
• ui_manufacturer=, ui_type= and ui_variation= control how the repaint is identified and grouped in the aircraft-selection interface.

The section numbers should be unique and continuous: [fltsim.0], [fltsim.1], [fltsim.2] and so on. Duplicate numbers or gaps can cause Prepar3D to skip entries. If no configuration block is supplied, duplicate an entry for the same model variant, then change only its section number, unique title, texture, variation name and optional registration details.

Why does the livery not appear in Prepar3D?

A missing livery is usually caused by an incorrect folder, a broken [fltsim.x] sequence or a repaint made for a different base aircraft.

• No new variation appears: check the section number, make title= unique and verify that the edited aircraft.cfg belongs to the loaded aircraft rather than an inactive duplicate installation.
• The aircraft appears with its old paint: make sure texture= exactly matches the suffix of the new texture folder.
• The aircraft is black, grey or partly untextured: restore the supplied texture.cfg and confirm that the repaint targets this exact model. Missing fallback textures commonly affect the cockpit and shared components.
• Prepar3D reports a model problem or shows an invisible aircraft: restore the original sim= and model= values for the intended variant.
• The livery vanished after an update: an aircraft installer or updater may have replaced aircraft.cfg. Restore the backed-up entry or reinstall the paint through the aircraft’s livery manager.

Can FSX liveries work in Prepar3D?

Some FSX texture-only liveries work in Prepar3D when the exact same base model has been installed or ported, but the simulator name alone does not establish compatibility. File names, texture mapping, model variant and fallback paths must all match.

A repaint cannot convert an incompatible FSX aircraft into a Prepar3D aircraft. Updated Prepar3D models may also use different texture layouts or additional material maps, so a paint made for an older model can display incorrectly. Large packs are especially model-specific; for example, this F/A-18E repaint collection identifies its required base add-on and supported Prepar3D versions.

When an aircraft includes its own livery manager, use that instead of editing files manually. It normally writes the correct configuration entries and is less likely to have its changes removed by a later aircraft update.