The new guy, also has a problem :(

[mezzio]

hey there.  ive been a fs2k2 player for a while now, and im aircraft maintenance (c5 galaxy avionics at travis afb).  i just wish problems on the computer were as easy to fix as problem on the real thing.  

ive also downloaded a few planes from the site.  i just now found the forums, which i figured someone might know how to fix my problem.  i dont know how to explain the problem, but basically, sometimes when i download a plane, then download a new panel for it (because i dont like using a 747 panel on a f15, or something like that), when i load up the plane to gly, i get nothing on my screen... just black.  however the gauges show up, but thats it.  so basically black screen and gauges.  when i cycle through the views, i can see, but i dont like flying in virtual cockpit, tower or spot.  is there anyway to fix this so i can see what im doing?  

[Apex]

I just picked this up minutes after you posted it, hopefully you'll some better answers on this, however, most FSer's are over in FS2004 and may not see this.  Maybe you should post this over there, it's about the same tech.  

I used to know a lot about panels, but I don't recall how to fix this, and can't remember if there's even a quick fix for this.

Since you're new to this, keep downloading aircraft, you should find some, maybe even a lot, that you like; they don't all have this problem; OR alias a properly working panel to whatever aircraft it is that you want to fly.  There's a whole panel section here with a lot of good stuff, try some of those.

[Hagar]

Hi mezzio. From your description you're not installing the new panels properly. A panel consists of a Panel.cfg file + one or more BMP images. If the new gauges display on a black background I suspect you didn't install the BMPs.

I check out a lot of new panels. This is the method I use. First back up the original panel by renaming the folder from Panel to Panel.0 or similar. (Any name will do providing it's not Panel.) Now configure the new panel (Panel.cfg + BMP images) in a folder named Panel & paste it into the aircraft. Paste any new gauges into the FS2002\Gauges folder.

[mezzio]

ahh, cool man, i see now  i always thought the bmp's were to show you what the gauge looks like.  ill keep that in mind from now on

thanks again man  8)