Have you ever downloaded a cool aircraft.  It's under FSX downloads and there is nothing on this earth in the text about the aitcraft that anything can go wrong, yet says it's an FSX aircraft?  But, when you install it... most of the gauges are missing and you have a piece-meal cockpit. So you extract the download and find the panel.  You find the panel.cfg file and look at it... and see all those weird gauges like "Lockhead Vega, Cessna208, Extra-300, Curtis-jenny... and look at the contents of the panel file and they are not included?

Then, maybe,  the sound file is missing completely... because it is aliased to an FS9 aircraft that doesn't exist in your FSX game?

The sound is aliased to a sound file from a stock aircraft that just doesn't exist.  The gauges are not included because they are from FS9 not FSX... and even if they were, you get all these error messages that say those gauges...usually ".gau" will not work on your game becasue they are '98 gauges... lovely...

Then you come to the relealization that the FSX download still has FS9 stuff still in it... and you just shake you head!  Because the whole download was worth nothing.

Well some of us, like me can use a "panel program"... work my way around it by substituting other compatible gauges or find ".xml" gauges that work or ".gau" gauges that work in FSX.. or aliase sound files from other aircraft... or if you are like me and have 300 or more other aircraft, you can just use those  gauges and sound files.

But, what about those who do not have those programs or do not know how to do those type of things... and give up and delete the aircraft that was supposed to be FSX?

I can understand if you are like me... scrounging for FS9 aircraft, and creating them to work in FSX for your own benefit and your own library, without infringing the copyrights. Using other aircrafts sound files to create sound for your own usage, with out putting any of it down as your own uploads to others...

But, what about those who do not have those programs or know how to make those errors work in FSX?  Not everyone is willing to spend the time to spend money on programs that can do this or create their own panel.cfg files from scratch...

If you are going to create or upgrade an FS9 aircraft and throw it under an FSX download... please do your homework.  If it is only FS9... please say it will only work in FS9 and the gauges and sounds will not work in FSX.  This means if you are testing it out in FSX, yet, have compatible FS9 gauges that work in FSX, DO NOT say it will work in FSX... because, even though you might have those gauges in the program doesn't necessarily mean the downloaders have those gauges and sounds in their game.

Make sure that all FSX downloads will work for them.  That means including all guage files that are compatible with FSX.  Check to make sure they are FSX compatible.  SOund files should be aliased to FSX aircraft.

Please do not put down an aircraft for FSX and just say that it will not work properly.  Make sure it works.  It's frustrating and degrading.

Please be considerate to the downloaders... please

Early on, many people slapped a thumbnail into an FS9 addon, and thought that's all they needed to do.  Err on their part.  But instead of getting upset about it, I learned how to adapt them to FSX.  For example, the Simshed Folland Gnat.  It's a nice little "Pocket Rocket, but almost none of the guages were FSX compatable.  After editing the panel.cft and subbing in FSX compatible guages from a generic panel, it works just fine, and is a hoot to scoot around in.

Rather than get frustrated (and at first, I got very frustrated with the guage, sound and mis-alined smoke effects problems), look at it as a challenge to *make* the addon compatible.  If it's a certain aircraft you have to have, and really want in your FSX hanger, it's worth the trouble.

That's not to say the originals were bad addons, just that they were not designed with FSX in mind.