diff --git a/src/blackmisc/directoryutils.cpp b/src/blackmisc/directoryutils.cpp
index 9c516de55..1c4625023 100644
--- a/src/blackmisc/directoryutils.cpp
+++ b/src/blackmisc/directoryutils.cpp
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ namespace BlackMisc
 
     bool CDirectoryUtils::containsFileInDir(const QString &dir, const QString &filter, bool recursively)
     {
-        QDir directory(dir);
+        const QDir directory(dir);
         if (!directory.exists()) { return false; }
 
         const QStringList nameFilter({ filter });
diff --git a/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/aircraftcfgparser.cpp b/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/aircraftcfgparser.cpp
index 720d9410b..070754577 100644
--- a/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/aircraftcfgparser.cpp
+++ b/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/aircraftcfgparser.cpp
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ namespace BlackMisc
 
                 // the sim.cfg/aircraft.cfg file should have an *.air file sibling
                 // if not we assume these files can be ignored
-                const QDir dirForAir(directory, QStringLiteral("*.air"), QDir::Name, QDir::Files | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
+                const QDir dirForAir(directory, CFsCommonUtil::airFileFilter(), QDir::Name, QDir::Files | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
                 const int airFilesCount = dirForAir.entryInfoList(QDir::Files | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot, QDir::DirsLast).size();
                 const bool hasAirFile =  airFilesCount > 0;
 
diff --git a/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.cpp b/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.cpp
index 7bfd38a27..dca26749c 100644
--- a/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.cpp
+++ b/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.cpp
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ namespace BlackMisc
                 QSet<QString> paths;
                 for (const QString &fsxFile : fsxFiles)
                 {
-                    paths.unite(fsxSimObjectsPaths(fsxFile, checked));
+                    paths.unite(CFsCommonUtil::fsxSimObjectsPaths(fsxFile, checked));
                 }
                 return paths;
             }
@@ -589,6 +589,9 @@ namespace BlackMisc
                 const QList<QStringRef> lines = splitLinesRefs(fileContent);
                 static const QString p("SimObjectPaths.");
 
+                const QFileInfo fsxFileInfo(fsxFile);
+                const QString relPath = fsxFileInfo.absolutePath();
+
                 QSet<QString> paths;
                 for (const QStringRef &line : lines)
                 {
@@ -597,14 +600,32 @@ namespace BlackMisc
                     const int i2 = line.lastIndexOf('=');
                     if (i2 < 0 || i1 >= i2 || line.endsWith('=')) { continue; }
                     const QStringRef path = line.mid(i2 + 1);
-                    const QString soPath = QDir::fromNativeSeparators(path.toString());
-                    const QFileInfo fi(soPath);
+                    QString soPath = QDir::fromNativeSeparators(path.toString());
+                    if (logConfigPathReading()) { CLogMessage(getLogCategories()).info(u"FSX SimObjects path checked: '%1' in '%2'") << line << fsxFile; }
 
-                    // relative or absolute paths
-                    const QString p = (fi.isAbsolute() && (!checked || fi.exists())) ?
-                                      fi.absolutePath() : soPath;
-                    paths.insert(p);
-                    if (logConfigPathReading()) { CLogMessage(getLogCategories()).info(u"FSX SimObjects path: '%1'") << p; }
+                    // ignore exclude patterns
+                    if (containsAny(soPath, CFsCommonUtil::fsxSimObjectsExcludeDirectoryPatterns(), Qt::CaseInsensitive)) { continue; }
+
+                    // make absolute
+                    if (!soPath.left(3).contains(':')) { soPath = CFileUtils::appendFilePaths(relPath, soPath); }
+
+                    const QDir p(soPath); // always absolute path now
+                    if (checked && !p.exists())
+                    {
+                        // skip, not existing
+                        if (logConfigPathReading()) { CLogMessage(getLogCategories()).info(u"FSX SimObjects path skipped, not existing: '%1' in '%2'") << p.absolutePath() << fsxFile; }
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    const QString afp = p.absolutePath().toLower();
+                    if (!CDirectoryUtils::containsFileInDir(afp, airFileFilter(), true))
+                    {
+                        if (logConfigPathReading()) { CLogMessage(getLogCategories()).info(u"FSX SimObjects path: Skipping '%1' from '%2', no '%3' file") << afp << fsxFile << airFileFilter(); }
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    paths.insert(afp);
+                    if (logConfigPathReading()) { CLogMessage(getLogCategories()).info(u"FSX SimObjects path: '%1' from '%2'") << afp << fsxFile; }
                 }
                 return paths;
             }
@@ -685,6 +706,12 @@ namespace BlackMisc
                 return CFsCommonUtil::validateSimObjectsPath(simObjectPaths, models, validModels, invalidModels, ignoreEmptyFileNames, stopAtFailedFiles, stopped);
             }
 
+            const QString CFsCommonUtil::airFileFilter()
+            {
+                static const QString a("*.air");
+                return a;
+            }
+
             CStatusMessageList CFsCommonUtil::validateSimObjectsPath(
                 const QSet<QString> &simObjectDirs, const CAircraftModelList &models,
                 CAircraftModelList &validModels, CAircraftModelList &invalidModels,
diff --git a/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.h b/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.h
index c8b1ed4f7..4e252f63d 100644
--- a/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.h
+++ b/src/blackmisc/simulation/fscommon/fscommonutil.h
@@ -149,6 +149,9 @@ namespace BlackMisc
                 //! \remark only for FSX
                 static CStatusMessageList validateFSXSimObjectsPath(const CAircraftModelList &models, CAircraftModelList &validModels, CAircraftModelList &invalidModels, bool ignoreEmptyFileNames, int stopAtFailedFiles, bool &stopped, const QString &simulatorDir);
 
+                //! .air file filter
+                static const QString airFileFilter();
+
             private:
                 //! Utility functions @{
                 static QSet<QString> findP3dConfigFiles(const QString &configFile, const QString &versionHint = "v4");