Turbosmooth, when it comes to modding FS2 is pretty much moot and mostly useless, even for high poly normal map projections. It might be okay for planet surfaces, asteroids, and organic ships but otherwise I personally think you're better off making a superb geometry and applying high poly projections when needed. I'm pretty sure a photoshop normal map is okay for most surfaces, if you want normal mapped pipes and greebles, consider making it on a surface that looks like the face in question then project away.
Honestly, 3DS Max is pretty bad at Turbosmooth as far as I know. Maya can do it a bit better as it is able to 'view' models smoothed without applying a smooth modifier. This is a very useful tool as it won't create a program crashing smooth and will still allow you to keep your low poly model and edit it with the smooth in mind.
Otherwise I suggest you poly model most things. Sometimes a single chamfered edge is better than everything being chamfered.