thanks Goblin, that helped. still some quirks to work through but its a start.
Svsmonkey: i dont use it because every time i do my system stops recognizing my stick and its a pain to get it all set back up.
Im running the 2.0 alpha and installed the F-15 and the campaign. everything worked fine until i installed FC3. now no training missions are available for any plane. i also installed the P-51 and no training missions. this was done after the FC3 install. any help will be much appreciated.