Frequently Asked Questions
We are presenting the following possibilities which might address the issue that you are encountering.  If you do not find the problem in this list, use the link to the form directly below and send us a support message. We will try our best to assist you.

 

 

 

 

 

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Q

I get a gauge error when trying to load the aircraft and/or the simulator crashes to desktop when I try to select it.
Q I receive a Tristana exception when trying to load the aircraft
A Make sure you are installing the aircraft from a directory on the same drive and partition where Microsoft Flight Simulator resides.  Otherwise the software will not work.  This could also happen if you used a Windows Restore Point or some kind of "Go Back" utility after you originally ran the installer.  This would have erased the license, preventing the software from working. In such a case the license validation dialog would come up when you attempted to load the aircraft. In such a case if you do not enter the correct license ID and password and pressed Exit instead on that dialog box the license will not be validated and the gauge file will not load, producing this error.


If you are running in full screen mode in Flight Simulator you may not have seen this dialog box. There seems to be a general problem in how the simulator works in full screen mode. Check the numerous threads on the various Internet forums regarding saving flights, and multiple monitor support. So unfortunately, this is something that is beyond our control. Make sure you switch to Windowed mode in FS prior to loading the aircraft so you can avoid the full screen problem mentioned above.

If you had a working license on the same drive and partition where Flight Simulator resides you will not receive this error when loading the aircraft.

 

 

Q

For some reason my engines stop and I cannot restart them.
A Open the Load Manager and check to make sure the engines are not damaged. This could be the problem. Also, if you have hardware controls for the mixture levers check your calibration. It could be your mixture is nulling out via the hardware, causing fuel starvation to the engine.

Another, and more likely possibility is a conflict in the data settings in whatever "Flight" (sometimes called "situation") you have loaded when you selected the aircraft. This is not referring to which aircraft you have tried loading first, like one of the default planes. It is the Flight itself. This has been a bug in Flight Simulator that Microsoft has never really addressed.

For FS 2004 make sure you always load the aircraft in 2D panel view. Not in VC view preferably, but NEVER from spot view. That will not allow all the critical aircraft systems to initialize.

Lastly, you may have another module from another add-on installed which is interfering with the aircraft systems. This can be a system wide add-on, or a module installed by another aircraft which effects a variety of aircraft system and FS failure modes. One indication of this would be if your Aircraft/Failures menu shows the engine box checked. This is something we have no way of knowing, detecting, or controlling. For example, one user reported that a freeware Cessna 206 released by a French developer did this to a number of his single engine prop aircraft. They all started to work normally when he uninstalled that 206.

 

 

 

Q

The Load Manager throws an error saying I do not have a valid license, then fails to load
A

This could be due to one of the following reasons:

1.
You have moved files around and are executing the Load manager from a different directory structure than that in which it was installed.

2.
You have deleted critical data files.

3.
You may have tried to move the files from one computer or hard drive partition to another, or you have a multiple partition/drive setup which cannot be resolved.

4.
You have run some kind of system restore or registry/file "cleaner" on your system and it has "cleaned" necessary data from your system.

5.
If the Load Manager cannot find the path to license within Flight Simulator from it's path declared in your system registry. In order to do that the software will look to the system registry, where the Microsoft installer marked the location of the original installation. It may be getting the wrong path value from your registry.

Open the utility regedit from your Windows Start/Run dialog box. Open the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\9.0 (FS 2004)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\10.0 (FS X)


This is where Microsoft stores the "official" location of the simulator on your system. If this is not the correct path to the root directory on your system where you are running the simulator, select (right click/modify) it and change the value to the correct path. Then run the above installer. It will look to that path by default.

 

 

Q

I seem to get very low frame rates or system lockups
A This is a system resource issue. The first thing to do is to try turning down your sliders in your simulator Options/Display menu and you will see an improvement. Cutting edge FS aircraft uses a lot more resources than the default simulator aircraft.

 

 
 
Q

The Load Manager is throwing an error saying that the aircraft could not be configured due to improper format of configuration files.
A This indicates that you are either missing files, possibly due to a Windows error during installation, or that you may have accidentally moved or deleted a critical data file. Reinstallation of the software is recommended.

 

 

Q

I can't see the gauges in the virtual cockpit and/or the 2D cockpit.
A This indicates that critical files are missing, or are not loading into the simulator. Possible causes would be:
  • If you are attempting to load the aircraft without a validated license, or all of the necessary files present, the aircraft will not work. You might also receive an error from FS when loading the aircraft as well.  See the topic: "I get a gauge error when trying to load the aircraft" for more information on this.
  • You may have accidentally moved or deleted critical files for the aircraft. If any critical file is missing the aircraft will not load properly.
  • The aircraft must be installed on the same hard drive (and partition) as the installation of Microsoft Flight Simulator that you are using.  Otherwise problems such as this can occur.