Submit an Aircraft - Flight Sim Deck

About Aircraft Export

The Aircraft Export feature allows you to capture your aircraft's instrument screens (PFD, MFD, etc.) directly from X-Plane and submit them for inclusion in Flight Sim Deck's aircraft database.

Important: This feature is only available for X-Plane (11 & 12). It is not supported for MSFS at this time.

Prerequisites

Flight Sim Deck Server installed and running on your PC
X-Plane 11 or 12 installed and running
The FSD bridge plugin installed in X-Plane
Debug Mode enabled on the server main window

Step-by-Step Guide

1 Enable Debug Mode

Open the Flight Sim Deck Server on your PC. On the main window, next to "Server Logs:", check the "Debug Mode" checkbox. This unlocks the panel export features required for aircraft capture.

2 Launch X-Plane and Load Your Aircraft

Start X-Plane and load the aircraft you want to export. Make sure the aircraft is fully powered up and in a hot & ready state:

Engines running
All avionics and screens turned on
All instrument displays (PFD, MFD, ECAM, etc.) in their normal operating state

Important: The aircraft must be fully powered with all screens active and displaying their normal flight information. Cold & dark cockpits will produce blank or unusable captures.

One aircraft per session: To export a different aircraft, you must quit X-Plane entirely and relaunch it with the new aircraft. Switching aircraft without restarting the simulator is not supported and will produce incorrect results.

3 Open View Panels

Switch to the Flight Sim Deck Server window on your PC. Click the "View Panels" button.

Note: The "View Panels" button is only visible when Debug Mode is enabled. If you don't see it, go back to step 1 and check the Debug Mode checkbox.

4 Export the Aircraft

In the View Panels window, click the "Export Aircraft" button. The server will capture screenshots of all detected instrument panels (PFD, MFD, etc.) from the currently loaded aircraft and package them into a ZIP file.

5 Submit the Export

Once the export is complete, you have two options to submit the aircraft data:

Automatic upload (FTP): The server will ask if you want to send the ZIP file automatically via FTP. Accept to upload it directly.
Manual submission: If you prefer, you can locate the exported ZIP file and send it to us manually by email.

That's it! Your aircraft export will be reviewed and added to the Flight Sim Deck aircraft database in a future update. Thank you for contributing!

Troubleshooting

"View Panels" button not visible?

Make sure the "Debug Mode" checkbox is checked next to "Server Logs:" on the main server window
The button should appear immediately after enabling Debug Mode

Export produces blank or black images?

Make sure the aircraft is fully powered (hot start, not cold & dark)
Verify all screens and avionics are turned on in X-Plane
Wait a few seconds after all screens are displaying before exporting

FTP upload fails?

Check your internet connection
You can always submit the ZIP file manually instead