I recently installed Flight Deck 5 to my FSX program and thought Id add some extra fire power as I added the Captain Sim weapons to the Abacus Super F18. It worked fine until I restarted my FSX. Upon restarting I noticed I had lost the ability to fire guns or missiles not only in Flight Deck 5 missions but also in free flights including all the planes I had added the Captain Sim weapons to. I had to uninstall Captain Sim Weapons and reinstall then. After the reinstall my weapons were back and working just fine. I wonder if anyone has had a similar situation occur when adding a misson package that had it's own weapons effects.I welcome any feed back on this matter. ;)

It could be because of the way Weapon for FSX Loader modified the panel.cfg for the aircraft that come with Flight Deck 5.

It should have worked fine in the default CS_F-18, because that is all correctly set up in the main panel folder, but the modification to the Flight Deck 5 aircraft may have messed them up so they don't work. This has happened with other add-on fighter/bomber aircraft that I have added Weapon for FSX to, and I had to manually fix up the panel.cfg to get it to work.

Without being able to check, I can't be 100% sure if that's all that is going wrong (I don't own Flight Deck 5). Sorry.

Hi Mark, let me say I have read a number of your post and I respect your input! What you say about my problem makes a lot of sense. I'm not sure how to edit the panel configuration so at this point I think I will reinstall Flight Deck 5 and not use the Capt  Sim weapons in those missions. I will still use the Capt Sim weapons for my free flight fun. I am new to posting here because it took me awhile to learn my way around this web site.  

When the Loader adds  Weapon for FSX to an aircraft, it usual adds a panel.csweapon folder (i.e. another company F-16A 9\panel.csweapon), it copies then modifies the panel.cfg from the panel folder (i.e. another company F-16A 9\panel). It also modifies the aircraft.cfg, so the the panel.cfg is read from the panel.csweapon folder.

Using the another company F-16A 9 again, the aircraft.cfg is changed from this

[fltsim.0]
title=Lockheed Martin F-16A NSAWC Blue Camo
sim=F-16 F100 CAT-I
model=USA-0
panel=
sound=
texture=NSAWC_Blue
kb_checklists=F-16_check
kb_reference=F-16_ref
visual_damage=1
ui_manufacturer="Lockheed Martin"
ui_type=Armed F-16A
ui_variation="US Navy, 55, NSAWC, NAS Fallon"
ui_typerole="Single Engine Fighter Jet"
ui_createdby="another company GmbH"
description="F-16C Falcon is the Air Force's primary airspace intercepter, and multi-role strike fighter."
atc_heavy=0
atc_id=0
atc_airline=RNoAF
atc_flight_number=051
atc_parking_types=MIL_COMBAT
panel_old=

to this:

[fltsim.0]
title=Lockheed Martin F-16A NSAWC Blue Camo
sim=F-16 F100 CAT-I
model=USA-0
panel=csweapon
sound=
texture=NSAWC_Blue
kb_checklists=F-16_check
kb_reference=F-16_ref
visual_damage=1
ui_manufacturer="Lockheed Martin"
ui_type=Armed F-16A
ui_variation="US Navy, 55, NSAWC, NAS Fallon"
ui_typerole="Single Engine Fighter Jet"
ui_createdby="another company GmbH"
description="F-16C Falcon is the Air Force's primary airspace intercepter, and multi-role strike fighter."
atc_heavy=0
atc_id=0
atc_airline=RNoAF
atc_flight_number=051
atc_parking_types=MIL_COMBAT
panel_old=

This is done to every [fltsim.xx] entry in the aircraft.cfg.

Backup the aircraft.cfg BEFORE adding the weapons using the Loader, and then you can switch back to the original aircraft.cfg if it is still messed up.

Hope this helps.

Thank you Mark, I usually do a back up on everything Im doing but I forgot to do a back up on the aircraft cfg. I will be doing that from now on and then switching back to the original when I want to fly a Flight Deck 5 mission. I did reinstall the Flight Deck5 and did a little editing to use one of my other aircraft ( default Cessna 172 with original aircraft cfg file) and it worked just fine. I was also able to carry out the mission using the Flight Deck 5 weapon which were some cool "cluster" bombs. Thanks again for the help.                   Dan

How does one rename an aircraft so that it can be used but not conflict with a plane with the same name? After some thinking on the idea I came up with the idea of having a duplicate plane so I could use one with the Cap Sim weapons in Free Flight but have the other to fly in a "Missions" setting without the Cap Sim weapons so there would be no conflict like I mentioned at the beginning of my post about flying "Flight Deck 5" missions trying to use cap Sim weapons. This isnt something I would do with alot of my planes but only a select one or two.                         Dan

There are several ways you can do it. On my A2A P-51 Mustang (WOP2 version, not WOP3) I copied the entire Aircraft folder, then made the modifications.

Original: WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D
Modified: WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D_Modified

This how I made it so the modified P51 didn't take up too much room:

WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D_Modified

Aircraft.cfg
p51d.air
P-51D_check.htm
P-51D_ref.htm
CSWeapon.xml

---

WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D_Modified\Model\model.cfg:
   
[fltsim]
alias=WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D\model

---

WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D_Modified\Panel:

A copy of the panel.cfg from the WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D\Panel\panel.cfg, but with the added CSWeapon panels.

gauge00=..\..\WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D\Panel\gauge!gaugename, x,x,xx,xx
Do that for all the gauge entries - except for the CSWeapon gauges (they are installed in the FSX\Gauges folder) and any gauges that are in the FSX\Gauges folder and so are not in the WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D\Panel\!

The contents are:
panel.cfg
HUD_Glass.bmp

---

WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D_Modified\Sound\sound.cfg:

[fltsim]
alias=WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D\sound

---

WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D_Modified\Texture\texture.cfg:

[fltsim]

fallback.1=..\..\WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D\texture
fallback.2=..\..\..\..\Scenery\Global\texture
fallback.3=..\..\..\..\Texture

All that is stored in the texture folder are the texture.cfg and a modified thumbnail with ARMED written over the image of the P-51

---

The original WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D folder with all its contents is 68.7MB
The WWII_FIGHTERS_P51D_Modified 3.1MB

So you can see that by doing that, it takes up very little space.

Another way to do it, which might be easier, is to add new entries in the aircraft.cfg

The original entry - [fltsim.0] - looks like this:

[fltsim.0]
title=P-51D 'Snooks'
sim=p51d
model=
panel=
sound=
texture=
kb_checklists=P-51D_check
kb_reference=P-51D_ref
atc_id=472505
atc_airline=
atc_flight_number=
atc_heavy=0
ui_manufacturer=WWII FIGHTERS
ui_type=P-51D Mustang
ui_variation='Snooks'
ui_typerole="Single Engine Prop"
ui_createdby="A2A Simulations Inc."
description='Cadillac of the Skies' is what pilots and civilians alike came to call the North American P-51 Mustang, and with good reason. Certainly the best all-around fighter of WWII, when all factors are considered, the aircraft was beautiful to behold, in the air or on the ground.  The flight characteristics, while suicidal for a novice, were sharp-edged and rewarded a skilled pilot with pulse-pounding performance.  The Mustang, in the 'D' model especially, had impressive range, excellent firepower, superb visibility, and exemplary agility and speed.  While other aircraft were able to match some aspects of the Mustang's performance, none were able to match all of them.  This "World War II Fighters" edition of the Wings of Power P-51D features the latest in "Absolute Realism" flight modeling and many other enhancements for the ultimate P-51D experience.
atc_id_color=0x00000000
atc_id_font=Verdana,-11,1,600,0
prop_anim_ratio=1.02
visual_damage=0

To add it again, but keep it different enough, would be to add it again and change the details that are bold text:

[fltsim.1]
title=P-51D 'Snooks' ARMED
sim=p51d
model=
panel=csweapon
sound=
texture=
kb_checklists=P-51D_check
kb_reference=P-51D_ref
atc_id=472505
atc_airline=
atc_flight_number=
atc_heavy=0
ui_manufacturer=WWII FIGHTERS
ui_type=P-51D Mustang
ui_variation='Snooks' ARMED
ui_typerole="Single Engine Prop"
ui_createdby="A2A Simulations Inc."
description='Cadillac of the Skies' is what pilots and civilians alike came to call the North American P-51 Mustang, and with good reason. Certainly the best all-around fighter of WWII, when all factors are considered, the aircraft was beautiful to behold, in the air or on the ground.  The flight characteristics, while suicidal for a novice, were sharp-edged and rewarded a skilled pilot with pulse-pounding performance.  The Mustang, in the 'D' model especially, had impressive range, excellent firepower, superb visibility, and exemplary agility and speed.  While other aircraft were able to match some aspects of the Mustang's performance, none were able to match all of them.  This "World War II Fighters" edition of the Wings of Power P-51D features the latest in "Absolute Realism" flight modeling and many other enhancements for the ultimate P-51D experience.
atc_id_color=0x00000000
atc_id_font=Verdana,-11,1,600,0
prop_anim_ratio=1.02
visual_damage=0

That should be enough to keep the aircraft different.

I did this second post to keep the two different ways to achieve what you want separated, so you won't get confused between them. ;)

Hope this helps.

Super Mark, I will give this a try. I will let you know how it turns out.       Dan

If you get stuck, just ask. I'll try to help you out as best as I can.

Hi Mark, I used your 2nd method and added a second version under the aircraft cfg and did get another plane (like when adding a new paint) Under these conditions ,when I go to add the Cap Sim weapon it will add it to both versions of the plane and I need to keep a version that wont have the Cap Sim weapons to fly in my Mission package.     Dan

Okay. Do this.

Add the weapons to the aircraft using the Weapon fort FSX Loader. Back up newly created panel.csweapon folder and the CSWeapon.xml. I usually add them to a Zip file.
Once backed up, remove the Weapons from that same aircraft using the Loader.
If you zipped the panel.csweapon folder and CSWeapon.xml, unzip them back into the aircraft folder.
Now add a new variant of the aircraft (using method 2) and it should then work.

I often add Weapon for FSX to my aircraft manually, rather than using the Loader, so I know it will work. ;)

Mark, yes this seems quit understandable and I will give it a go. You are such a help, thank you so much!!!  Ill let you know if I did it right.   Dan

Mark, I did as you said and now I have a cruise missile with Capt Sim Weapons and one without that I can use in my mission fun. I did a little editing on the Razbam BQM-74 that came  with the A7 corsair VolIII package. As a result I can now fly it in Free Flight and in a Mission setting(had to also edit a small change in the mission cfg. I did back up all cfg files too. Thanks again for your help!          Dan ;)

Great! Glad it's working like you want. Enjoy!

Mark