ok, so heres the thing. i went to download some aircraft and saved them under Simobjects and aircraft. but still havent found them on fsx. am i doin something wrong or what. im on windows 7 if that makes any difference.

You might find this helpful. http://www.simviation.com/fsxaircraftinstall.htm

If you still have no luck tell us the file name of the aircraft & the page it's posted on so someone can download it to check it out.

The easiest way to unzip a downloaded zipfile is to right-click on it & select Extract All.



Follow the Extraction Wizard. Click Next.


Leave it on the default settings. Don't change anything. Click Next again.


Click Finish. I suggest disabling the Show Extracted Files option.


The files will be automatically extracted to a folder right next to the zipfile.


Then follow the tute I posted a link to.

Tell me if this helps.

Unfortunately there's no standard template for configuring the downloads so they can vary considerably depending on the preferences of the author. This makes it difficult to give specific advice.

It would be much easier if you gave us an example of an aircraft you're trying to install. Then someone can download the file to check it out. All we need is the aircraft name & a link to the page it's posted on.

Installing the Blackhawk should be straightforward enough. Make sure you select the correct folder.

This is what it looks like after extracting the zipfile following my previous instructions. Open it up to see what you've got.



Note the "Aircraft Container" folder containing the Model, Panel, Sound & Texture subfolders is hidden inside two other folders.
The folder named UH60Blackhawk is the one you want.
To install the Blackhawk paste the UH60Blackhawk folder into the FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes directory like this.


Fire up FSX & select Sikorsky under Manufacturer on the Free Flight Aircraft menu.


NOTE: The first variation on the list does not work for some reason so do not select it. I haven't had the time to find out why. All the others work fine.


You will have to validate a couple of gauges the first time you select one of the variations. Then you're ready to go.

Please tell me if that helped.

In addition to Hagar's excellent instructions you can look into the SDK files that come with FSX to learn about the "aircraft.cfg" file and get an overall understanding of how it works. That file controls where the model, panel, textures, etc are found when you pick an aircraft in the FSX flight menu, in addition to aircraft performance. The SDK for the aircraft.cfg file is usually found on your hard drive here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\SimObject Creation Kit\SimObject Container SDK\Aircraft Configuration Files.htm

Look under the subject named [fltsim.n], second from the top of the list for info pertaining to your initial question.

You'll see stuff like this in your aircraft.cfg file. It's all related directly to the folder structure & names that Hagar showed you:
[fltsim.0]
title=P-51 'Detroit Miss'
sim=p51d
model=
panel=
sound=
texture=detroit


Once you get afflicted with downloading too many aircraft it can be a big help in keeping your aircraft organized on your FSX menu too. Make sure you first back up any files that you tinker with. Hope that helps.