You can examine the contents of panel.cfg with notepad and the .bmp file with MS Paint, Irfanview or other graphics viewer.
There should be at least one .bmp file in the panel folder, which provides the bakground graphic for the panel. Panel.cfg then provides the instructions for the placement of gauges, etc. against the background.
If the panel folder has no .bmp is is possible that it is an
alias, in which the panel.cfg file would look something like this:
[fltsim]
alias=b747_400\panel
in which the panel is
aliased to the 747 panel. If the 747 panel does not exist you, obviously, would not see a panel. More on aliasing here
http://www.simviation.com/lair/aliasing1.htmTo answer your question this sounds correct. That still doesn't mean it will work.