I certainly agree with the evaluations of FSedit. But I'm beginning to wonder how I ever got out of the 1st grade.I've downloaded Cfgedit & tried using both it & Notepad to install aircraft. In notepad, I try & open the file, nothing happens. CFGedit looks interesting, but I don't have the faintest idea where to start to load a 3rd party aircraft. Anybody that can put it in plain simple terms, I'd certainly appreciate it.  Never did get an answer to my inquiry about Adventure text display. So far I've just put it in the catagory of pop-ups.Some day I hope to be able to review all 370 pages in the forum, maybe I'll be a lot smarter then, thanks.

To install an aircraft, you need to place the aircraft folder into the FS2004/Aircraft directory. CFGEdit is for designing/editing panels, not for aircraft installation

I often get Forum confusion around here

Hi Hammer. Andrew says he gets confused around here but you're talking to the master confusionist. ???

Seriously. The problem is that not all downloads are configured in the same way. If they were it would be easier to explain.The important think is to be able to recognise how a properly configured aircraft should look.

Check out the default aircraft in Windows Explorer to use as examples. Once you've figured out what they should look like it's easy. Simply a case of pasting the folder containing the aircraft (the Aircraft Container) into the appropriate place. You dont need any utilities to do that.

PS. All this explained much better in the tute than I or anyone else can do it here.

Hagar & Andrew, thanks for the replies
I checked several of the default aircraft & it seems that the common denominators are model, panel, sound & texture to be downloaded. However, Murphy's Law is still in existence. Your Tut is very good & helpful, but it seems when in the split screen & I want to insert something in the aircraft folder, the A/C folder & the file to be inserted are at opposite ends of the stick, so to speak. However I think that falls in the catergory of Windows 101 & not FS2002. I've got one of those computers with Gremlins running around inside undoing the right things I do. Just have to keep at it, I guess.

Hagar,
Thanks for the information about the Tutes, I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. All my files are in a shambles from my efforts & I'm just starting to get them straightened out, but the Gremlins are back at it. I've got two 3rd party aircraft, that when I select a flight, the screen opens with a open view at the end of the runway, when I click on views, then click on instrument panel, I get the "Global on, shift+[" sign & am unable to bring up the instrument panel, I couldn't find anything in the Sim instructions covering this as is true about so many other things in FS2002, experience pays off, thanks for all your help

I don't know if this is going to add to the confusion or what.  Whenever I download an aircraft, I install them in to the AIRCRAFT folder of FS2002.  I then look in the aircraft folder for the plane I downloaded to verify that it did make it there, with the requisite panels, sounds, textures, etc.  If those are missing, I will look for the panels, etc. on this site for that aircraft.  When I find the panel, I install the panel into the panel folder of the appropriate aircraft.  Take note that some panel downloads include gauges as well.  When this happens, make sure you put the gauges in the main GAUGES folder.
Also, there are some aircraft downloads that are executable files, which mean that you run the file, and it will install itself properly, hopefully, into the proper directories.  I did this with the A-10 thunderbolt.  Great aircraft.  Now, if I can just figure out how to drop the munitions of that thing in FS2002!   

Thanks Hagar & Musicman,
Tips & clues are always welcome, I'm still having problems with those Gremlins in my machine, but I'm still learning. I've got 2 Ford Tri-motors showed up on my hard drive that I've tried to delete at least a half dozen times, but they keep coming back & occasionally I'll select an aircraft in the sim & I get the cockpit  & the instrument panel, but everything beyond that is sheer black, keeps things interesting.

If there are 350 some odd pages of inquires in FS2002 forum, I guess I'm not the only one with problems. I'll keep working on them.
Thanks again,