The new panel system for Microsoft Flight
                    Simulator 98 makes it easy to add customized
                    instrument panels to Flight Simulator aircraft. You
                    can find new panels for Flight Simulator 98 on
                    many Web sites. 

                    To succeed, however, you have to do the right
                    things in the right order. Here's a procedure that
                    outlines the correct way to install customize
                    panels for Flight Simulator 98. 

                    To Customize a Panel 

                      1.Decide which aircraft panel you want to
                         modify. Open the folder in the Flight
                         Simulator 98 directory that contains that
                         aircraft. By default, aircraft information is
                         stored in folders inside in the
                         FLTSIM98\AIRCRAFT directory, one folder
                         for each aircraft. 
                      2.Copy the panel folder that you've
                         downloaded into the appropriate aircraft
                         directory. (The panel you download may be
                         a ZIP file; you may need to extract it first.)
                         For example, the panel folder might be
                         named PANEL.NEW. 
                      3.Using a text editor such as Notepad, open
                         the aircraft's configuration file. You'll find
                         this file, AIRCRAFT.CFG, in the same
                         directory as the PANEL folder. 
                      4.Add a new [fltsim.X] section. It's easiest to
                         select and copy the [fltsim.0] section and
                         then replace '0' with the next consecutive
                         number that's available. For example, if this
                         is the first time you've added a section to
                         the file you'll probably use [fltsim.1]. 
                      5.Change the name of the aircraft by editing
                         the text in the title line. This is the name
                         that appears in the Select Aircraft dialog
                         box in Flight Simulator, so pick a good one. 
                      6.6. Edit the panel= line to read
                         panel=new. For example, as noted in step
                         2, if the panel folder is named PANEL.NEW,
                         you should edit the panel= line to read
                         panel=NEW. This change tells Flight
                         Simulator 98 where to look for the new
                         panel. 
                      7.Do not edit the other lines in the new
                         section. 
                      8.Save the AIRCRAFT.CFG file. Make sure you
                         save this file as a text (ASCII) file. 

                    Now when you click Select Aircraft on the
                    Aircraft menu in Flight Simulator 98, you'll see a
                    new aircraft that uses the custom panel you
                    created. 

                    Adding a Panel: Example 

                    Suppose you want to add a cool new panel to
                    the Extra 300S. For this example, assume you've
                    downloaded and unzipped (if necessary) a panel
                    folder called PANEL.COOL_NEW_PANEL. 

                      1.Copy the panel folder
                         FLTSIM98\AIRCRAFT\EXTRA300\PANEL 
                         to 
                         FLTSIM98\AIRCRAFT\EXTRA300\
                         PANEL.COOL_NEW_PANEL. 
                      2.Create a new aircraft that uses the cool
                         new panel. Use a text editor to change the
                         file FLTSIM98\AIRCRAFT\EXTRA300\
                         AIRCRAFT.CFG as follows:
                         Copy the lines:
                         [fltsim.0]

                         title=Extra 300S
                         sim=Extra300S
                         model=
                         panel=
                         sound=
                         texture=
                         checklists=Extra300S_check

                         and add them immediately below the
                         [fltsim.0] section. Change [fltsim.0] to
                         [fltsim.1] and change the aircraft title. The
                         new section should now look like this: 

                         [fltsim.1]
                         title=Extra 300s With Cool New Panel
                         sim=Extra300S
                         model=
                         panel=
                         sound=
                         texture=
                         checklists=Extra300S_check

                      3.Finally, add the pointer to the new panel
                         directory by editing the panel= line. When
                         you're finished, the new [fltsim.1] section
                         should look like this:

                         [fltsim.1]
                         title= Extra 300s With Cool New Panel
                         sim=Extra300S
                         model=
                         panel=Cool_New_Panel
                         sound=
                         texture=
                         checklists=Extra300S_check

                      4.Save the AIRCRAFT.CFG file as a text
                         (ASCII) file. The next time you click Select
                         Aircraft on the Aircraft menu in Flight
                         Simulator, you'll see "Extra 300s With Cool
                         New Panel" in the list of available aircraft.