NOTE: This tutorial was written for Combat Flight Simulator (Europe) long before CFS2 was released.

The basic installation principle is the same for all MS sims. The CFS1 Hellcat used as an example in the walkthrough below will need modifying to show up in CFS2. For CFS2 it would be best to substitute it for a CFS2 aircraft. Better still, follow Pete Daly's excellent tute here in conjuction with my Aliasing article.

For either sim I strongly recommend installing a WWII aircraft to start with. Before trying a jet make sure to read the part near the bottom of the Aliasing article under Jets in CFS1 & CFS2 ..................!

Let's start from the beginning.
What do we need?

I am assuming that you:

1. Have a basic knowledge of MS Windows 95/98/Me directory & file structures.
   
2. Know how to use Windows Explorer or My Computer & how to drag & drop or cut/copy & paste files & folders using the mouse.
   
3. Know how to download a file from the Website to a Temp folder on your hard drive..
   
4. Know how to unzip a .zip file.

First of all, you obviously need to have Combat Flight Simulator installed correctly to your hard drive.
(CFS comes complete with its own Converter. You do NOT need the FS98 patch or FS98 Converter )
As most files come zipped, you will need an unzipper.
(WinZip is very good & easy to use. The latest fully functional Evaluation Version is available here.)

THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT

99.9% OF THE AIRCRAFT POSTED AT SIMVIATION ARE ALREADY CONVERTED FOR DIRECT INSTALLATION TO EITHER FS98 OR CFS.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO INSTALL THE FS98 PATCH OR FS98 CONVERTER TO INSTALL AIRCRAFT TO COMBAT FLIGHT SIMULATOR.
YOU WILL NOT NEED TO USE THE CFS CONVERTER TO INSTALL 'CFS READY' AIRCRAFT
ALTHOUGH MOST FS98 AIRCRAFT WORK FINE IN CFS IT'S BEST TO STICK TO THE ONES FROM THE CFS SECTION UNTIL YOU GET THE HANG OF THINGS.

FS2000, CFS2 & FS2002 aircraft are not compatible with or suitable for CFS1.

Can I suggest you print this first for easy reference.

Let's download & install an aircraft.

I know this works as I've just done it.
In the Simviation CFS1 Aircraft section, Page 21, you will see four Grumman Hellcats.
Let's try the 4th file down, a Grumman Hellcat Mk I by Chris Lampard & Steve Bezant.
Click on it and download the file to a folder on your hard drive. It's a small file & won't take long.
(I created a special folder named C:\FS Downloads for downloaded files. You can create a folder with any name you like, or use an existing folder providing you can find it later.) I'll use C:\Temp in this example.

When you go offline, navigate to your download folder using Windows Explorer (or My Computer) and find the zipfile. It's named jv131.zip. To unzip the file try the right-click options.
I'll show you the quickest & easiest method I know for unzipping all zipfiles.

Right-click on jv131.zip & select Extract to folder C:\your download folder\jv131 from the menu.
WinZip will run & extract the file to a yellow folder named jv131 in your download folder alongside jv131.zip.
Double-click on the jv131 folder to open it up. The main jv131 folder contains another folder named Jv131

Open the Jv131 folder. You will see it has 4 sub-folders named model, panel, sound &Texture.
Also 4 files named aircraft.cfg, Jv131.air, Jv131.dp & Jv131.cdp.
This is the standard CFS aircraft folder configuration.
(There are 3 other files in the folder, Jv131.jpg, ReadMe.txt & File.id.diz. These are for your information & have no effect on the aircraft installation.)

Now, we need the previous folder, Jv131. ( Note the capital or uppercase letter 'J' ).
This is the "aircraft container" folder which is installed to CFS.

This is how I do it.
(I prefer to Cut & Paste rather than drag & drop as, if your finger slips, the file could end up anywhere.)
Right-click on the folder named Jv131 & select Cut from the drop down menu.
Find your CFS Aircraft directory and open it. Mine's located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Combat Flight Simulator\Aircraft.
This folder contains your CFS default aircraft.

Right-click on an empty space in the Aircraft folder & select Paste.
Be careful not to paste it into the folder of another aircraft.
Note: Please don't try installing files to the CFS CD. This is not possible.

That's it! You have installed your first aircraft.
Start Combat Flight Simulator, click Free Flight.
Under 'Player aircraft' click Change/Modify......
Scroll up or down until you see your new Hellcat.
It's named Grumman Hellcat I JV131 on the menu.
Select it. Click 'Fly Now!' Go and fly!

JV131 uses the CFS default P47d panel & sound.
These can be changed later if you wish. (See my Aliasing article)
You can also use imported aircraft in Quick Combat & Single Missions.

I hope you followed all that and it worked for you.
It sounds more complicated than it is.
Let me know how you get on.

Footnote
CFS2 has been released since this article was written. This can cause some confusion, especially for beginners. The best advice I can offer is to remember that the original Combat Flight Simulator (Europe ) is generally referred to as CFS or CFS1.