Caribbean Sea Planes install / where to find the locations
Nothing in your list screams “you broke FSX” — what you’re seeing is mostly just a folder layout issue and (most likely) the scenery simply hasn’t been activated in the Scenery Library yet.
1) Understand what “Add-on Scenery” is (and isn’t)
FSX doesn’t automatically use scenery just because you copied a folder into the FSX directory. It only loads scenery areas that are listed and enabled in the Scenery Library.
Also, the sim doesn’t care what the folder is called (“Caribbean Sea Planes”, “Coco Beach”, etc.) as long as the scenery area you add points to a folder that contains the expected subfolders.
2) Check the folder structure first
For almost all FSX scenery, the usable structure should look something like:
...\Some Scenery Folder\scenery\ (contains .BGL files)
...\Some Scenery Folder\texture\ (contains textures, sometimes optional)
So pick one of your new folders (for example C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\Coco Beach) and see if inside it you have scenery and texture.
- If you do see
scenery / texture inside each location folder: great — they can be added to the Scenery Library.
- If you don’t see that structure, and instead you see another nested folder level (example:
Coco Beach\Coco Beach\scenery) then you’ll want to add the inner folder (the one that actually contains the scenery folder) to the Scenery Library.
3) Add/enable it in FSX
In FSX:
- Go to Settings -> Scenery Library
- Click Add Area...
- Browse to the folder you want to add (the one that contains
scenery and usually texture)
- OK/Close and let FSX rebuild the scenery database
If the product came as one “master” folder (Caribbean Sea Planes) that contains all locations inside it, sometimes you add just the main folder once. Other times you add each airport/location folder separately. The right choice depends entirely on where the actual scenery folders live.
4) Where to find the airports/locations in Free Flight
Your understanding is basically right:
- Free Flight -> Current Location (Change...) -> Select Airport
However, here’s the key detail: many scenery packages (especially “seaplane bases”, docks, landmarks, etc.) do not add a brand-new airport entry. They may be:
- A modification of an existing airport (so you still select the “normal” airport ICAO/name), or
- Objects/landmarks only (no airport to select), meaning you spawn at a nearby airport and fly over, or
- A “water runway” / seaplane base that might show up differently depending on how it was built.
And no — you generally wouldn’t search under “Add-on Scenery” in the airport list. “Add-on Scenery” is a folder concept. The airport list is based on airport records (AFD/AFCAD-style BGLs), not on what folder the files sit in.
5) One important caution (Steam FSX in Program Files)
Because you’re under Program Files (x86), Windows permissions can sometimes interfere with scenery installers and with FSX writing updates. It doesn’t always bite, but it’s a known headache. If this was installed by copying folders manually, it’s usually fine — but if an installer was involved, permissions can matter.
A couple quick questions so I can point you exactly to the right folder to add
- Did “Caribbean Sea Planes” come with an installer, or did you manually copy folders into the FSX directory?
- Inside one of those location folders (pick “Key West” or “Bimini”), do you see a
scenery folder with .BGL files inside it?
- After you run FSX, do you see any new entries in Settings -> Scenery Library related to Caribbean Sea Planes, or is it currently not listed at all?
Answer those and tell me what you see inside one of the folders (just the top level names), and I’ll tell you exactly what to add and in what order.
Trainee
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Captain
