So I've got the basics of repainting aircraft down, and now i want to experiment with reflective textures. Nothing fancy, just something to make white aircraft seem metallic white.

I understand that in fs2002, this comes from adding an "alpha channel" to the textures. I've seen some things that refer to a "tga alpha channel."

i've got some ????s about this.

1. can someone briefly explain what the alpha channel is, and how i create one. I see it in one of the menus in imagetool, but don't understand its use.

2. How would i go about creating a reflective layer specifically for a white-painted aircraft?

Not looking for hand-holding, per se. i'm willing to do the work myself. I just need a quick primer on this whole issue; the sites I've seen assume more knowledge than I already have..

thanks in advance for any help!