How do I start FSX with a saved default flight?

In FSX or FSX: Steam Edition, set up the aircraft, airport, weather, time and cockpit state you want, save the flight, then tick “Make this the default flight” in the Save Flight window. Clear “Show opening screen” in General settings if you want FSX to load that flight immediately when the simulator launches.

How do I set a saved flight as the FSX default?

1. Build the flight: choose the aircraft, livery, airport position, weather, date and time. Load a flight plan first if it should be part of the saved situation.
2. Enter the flight: adjust the fuel, radios, views, switches and engine state. For a gate start, confirm that you selected a parking position rather than the active runway.
3. Open Save Flight: press the semicolon key, or use Flights > Save from the menu bar.
4. Name the flight: give it a distinctive title, tick Make this the default flight, then save it.
5. Choose the startup behaviour: open Options > Settings > General and clear Show opening screen if FSX should launch directly into the flight. Leave it selected if you want the opening screen first.
6. Restart FSX: close the simulator normally, reopen it and confirm that the correct flight loads.

The default-flight checkbox and the opening-screen setting perform different jobs. The first identifies the saved situation FSX should treat as its default; the second decides whether FSX opens that situation immediately or shows its menus first.

What does an FSX default flight remember?

An FSX default flight is a complete saved situation, not merely a preferred aircraft. It can retain:

• aircraft, livery and location;
• airport runway, gate or parking position;
• date, time and saved weather;
• fuel and payload settings;
• radio frequencies, navigation selections and many cockpit switches;
• the associated flight plan, if one was loaded before saving.

There are limits. Live controller axes are read again during loading, so a physical throttle left fully forward can override the saved lever position. If that happens, use our checks for flights that begin at full throttle.

Complex add-on aircraft may also keep proprietary systems or panel states outside FSX’s native saved-flight system. Use the aircraft’s own panel-state feature where one is provided.

Why does FSX ignore or fail to load the saved default flight?

• The opening screen still appears: clear Show opening screen under General settings. The flight can still be the default even while this screen remains enabled.
• The previous default keeps returning: save the new situation under a clear title and make sure the default-flight checkbox is selected before confirming the save.
• Changes are not retained: save an ordinary test flight and check that it appears in FSX’s Load Flight list. If it does not, FSX may be unable to write to the user’s Documents folder because of permissions, security protection or cloud-folder interference.
• FSX hangs or crashes during launch: the saved flight may reference an aircraft, repaint, gauge or scenery package that has been removed or damaged. Restore access to the opening screen, then create a replacement default with a stock aircraft and default airport. Our add-on crash troubleshooting process covers the usual isolation steps.
• Startup has become unusually slow: a complex aircraft, detailed airport or damaged saved situation can add substantial loading work. See our FSX startup performance checks before reinstalling the simulator.

Can I use an add-on aircraft as the default flight?

You can, but a stock aircraft at a default airport is the safer choice for a reliable FSX startup. Use an add-on as the default only when it loads consistently from a saved flight and does not require a separate scenario or panel-state loader.

If that aircraft is later removed, renamed or updated incompatibly, FSX may fail while trying to open the default situation. Keeping one simple stock saved flight available makes recovery much easier.

How do I replace or stop the default flight?

To replace it, load or create another flight, save it and select Make this the default flight; FSX uses the newly selected situation as its default. You do not need to delete the earlier saved flight.

To keep the flight saved but prevent it from opening automatically, re-enable Show opening screen. If FSX is trapped loading a broken situation, follow the recovery steps for disabling automatic default-flight loading.