Does anyone know how to put the VC from a default aircraft (737) into a freeware aircraft?

Yes. I did it for the 777.

I'll need more details before I can tell you what you need to know.

Important things to know:

(1)
[Window00]
file_1024=..\..\B737_800\panel\737-800_panel_background.bmp
file_1024_night=..\..\B737_800\panel\737-800_panel_background_night.bmp
size_mm=1024
position=7
visible=1
ident=MAIN_PANEL

gauge00=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!pfd_screen,                    189,548
gauge01=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!pfd,                           210,567,179,179
gauge02=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!mfd_screen,                    409,548
gauge03=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!mfd,                                      430,567,179,179
gauge04=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!eicas_screen,                  740,548
gauge05=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!eicas,                         760,565,179,179
gauge06=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!compass,                          839, 39
gauge07=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!autopilot,                      561,330
gauge08=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!knob_1,                        329,501
gauge09=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!knob_2,                        390,501
gauge10=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!knob_3,                        830,480
gauge11=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!clock,                          77,570
gauge12=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!attitude_backup,                630,444
gauge13=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!adf_vor_backup,                      630,662
gauge14=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!alti_and_asi_backup,                631,555
gauge15=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!gear_lever,                          959,524
gauge16=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!annunciator_below_glideslope,  214,517
gauge17=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!annunciator_le_flaps,          854,516
gauge18=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!annunciator_speed_brake_armed, 516,516
gauge19=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!annunciator_auto_brake_disarm, 823,441
gauge20=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!annunciator_anti_skid_inop,    812,517
gauge21=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!efis_control_panel,                416,344
gauge22=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!flap_indicator,                  892,452
gauge23=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!annunciator_panel_1,                    267,361
gauge24=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!annunciator_panel_gear,            958,454
gauge25=..\..\B737_800\panel\B737_800!Knob_N1_Set,                   755,454

Notice that the images (BMPs) are preceded by ..\..\B737_800\panel\. That is so that it reads the gauges from the default 737. But there is a catch. NOT all the gauges for the 737 are in the B737_800\panel folder, they are in the FSX\Gauges folder so they won't need to be preceded by ..\..\B737_800\panel\:

[Window02]
size_mm=159,441
position=8
visible=0
BACKGROUND_COLOR=16,16,16
ident=RADIO_STACK_PANEL

gauge00=737-400!Comm 1,            0,   0,159, 68
gauge01=737-400!Comm 2,            0,  68,159, 68
gauge02=737-400!Nav 1,                  0, 135,159, 68
gauge03=737-400!Nav 2,                  0, 203,159, 68
gauge04=737-400!Transponder,      0, 271,159, 68
gauge05=737-400!ADF,                  0, 340,159, 68
gauge06=737-400!Audio,                  0, 409,159, 32

Notice that these ones are NOT preceded with ..\..\B737_800\panel\. The 737-400.cab is in the Gauges folder, while the B737_800.cab file IS located in the B737_800\panel. This also applies to the gauges in the [VCockpit0X] sections as well.

(2) So that the VC does not appear jet black, you need to add this line into the texture folder for each variant:

fallback.5=..\..\B737_800\texture

The number (5) MUST be the next consecutive number! So if the one above it is number 3, that line would then become fallback.4=..\..\B737_800\texture.

(3) You need to add this line in the model.cfg in the model folder: interior=..\..\B737_800\model\B737_800_interior

That's the best I can do for now, without more information.

Mark

Okay, thanks Mark. What kind of details do you need?

NNewcomb wrote on Jul 26^th, 2011 at 3:44am:

Okay, thanks Mark. What kind of details do you need?

The name of the freeware aircraft and where I can get it from. That way I can see if there is anything else that needs to be taken into account. I doubt that you will need to do more than I already showed you, but I can't be sure without looking at it myself.

Mark

Okay, It is the Project Open Sky (Now Free Sky Project) B737-900 in Boeing Original House colors. It is available on this page.  

Ok. I downloaded it and ran into all kinds of problems.

1. Every time I alias to the default B737_800 VC, I lose the exterior model and the VC isn't there either. It turns out that the MDL (model) file is for FS9 and not for FSX which explains this. In FS9, the exterior and interior are included in the MDL file. There is an updated MDL for FSX, but I still can't get the default B737_800 VC to display. I think that although the MDL file is updated, they have still used MakeMDL.exe to create it. MakeMDL can only create a single MDL file that has the Exterior and Interior (VC) in the same file. If they were to use XtoMdl, from the FSX SDK, they could create the Exterior without the VC and the capability to ALIAS to the B737_800 VC would be there.
2. I can use the B737_800 2D panels, but without a VC, no 3D panels.

In the end, I downloaded a few different 737-900's but the results were the same. I had this exact same problem with their 777 models when trying to see if I could use their 777 VC's for the CS777. For some reason, they don't want to use XtoMdl.exe to create their aircraft. I wouldn't bother with them myself. Unless they start using XtoMdl.exe for creating FSX models. No VC means I would rather not have it nor would I fly it.

Out of all the information I gave you in my first reply, the only thing you need to use is panel.cfg info. But there is a much better way:

1. Back up the panel.cfg that you get with the plane. Make a copy of it and call it panel.bak (or something like that).
2. Open the original and delet EVERYTHING inside it.
3. Add the following:
[fltsim]
alias=\B737_800\panel
4. Save the file.

You will now have the POSky 737-900 with the default B737_800 2D panels.

Hope this helps.

Mark

Okay, Thanks for your help, Mark. No big deal that it won't work that was an aircraft that I installed a while ago and I was curious to see if I could get the VC in there. Thanks anyways!

Could you transfer the 737-800 cockpit to the Project opensky 737-700 v2 from Simviation?