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Guest KD

Eric Ernst

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Guest KD

Hi,Whatever happened to Eric Ernst? I used to use his excellent freeware 757/767 panels which he constantly updated with new mods. I've been away from FS for some time but I'm now back and greatly enjoy reading through these forums and, hopefully, contribute when I know enough about the hobby without asking dumb questions!KD:)

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Guest KenG

He, along with three other great designers (Wade, Laurent, and Pedro) created 767 Pilot in Command (767PIC) which is sold by Wilco. It is only supported through FS2002 though.He has been absent from the FS community since Sept. 2001 for personal reasons (I suspect). I do not know if he will be on the Team for the new version of the 767. You can read more about the 767PIC in the forum here at AVSIM.

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Eric is not involved with the latest project. He retired from FS developement a while ago. We all miss him.Take careJohn

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I spoke to Eric numerous times after 911. To sum it up, Eric was flying right seat on an American flight that departed Laguardia before the towers were struck. His flight was airborne when the towers were struck and they were forced to land in Detroit or somewhere in that vicinity. They were grounded for two days or more (if memory serves) and finally were allowed to fly the empty bird to Dallas. It was days after getting the bird back to Dallas that he was finally able to get home to his wife and child. Imagine his wife sitting watching the horror of that day, knowing your husband's plane departed at or very near the time that the other American flights did, and not knowing if he was on one of them. Eric was not able to get in touch with his family until hours after the events of the tower.I can't speak for Eric, and certainly can't quote him word-for-word today and over two years removed, but I can say that the drift of his conversations with me were that the thought that even if there were less than a one percent chance of a highjacker using Flight Sim to gain some training, it was one percent too many for him. And, if you will remember the news stories, you may have seen some of the reporting that actually showed a 757 in Flight Sim - the panel depicted was his. That was more than Eric could accept, and certainly a contributing reasons for his departure from this hobby.The lesson in this? If you think terrorism is someone else's problem, then you have in front of you evidence to the contrary. We lost a great panel and gauge author, a real life heavy metal pilot willing to share his knowledge and experience within this community, and a great guy, all because of 911. Terrorism hurts everyone, and the loss of Eric to this hobby is a severe loss to all of us.

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9/11 also caused Cap'n Tarmack to disappear :(Eric's panels were milestones in the FS community, and I still use some of his FS98 gauges in my current panels ... they've stood the test of time! :) I purchased 767PIC only a couple of months ago ......... what a fantastic package!I can fully understand why they quit the FS community :)

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Guest LLgaz

>>>>And, if you will remember the news stories, you may have seen some of the reporting that actually showed a 757 in Flight Sim - the panel depicted was his<<<

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Guest DreamFleet

Eric and I remain good friends, and he is doing well. He bought a new home last year, and spends much of his free time on rennovations. etc. on it. He is now retired from FS work.Speaking of 9-11, it was just a week after that when Eric and I went to dinner at a local restuarant where we are both well known (especially at the bar!). Prior to dinner, we were having drinks at the bar, and discussing the tragic events of the prior week.Another partron at the bar overheard us, panicked, and called the police on us. After several minutes of questioning by the police, we were both a bit shaken / upset, especially Eric. The patron who called the police was a regular there also, and should have known simply to ask one of the restaurant's staff as to who we were first, before making the call. Anyway, we had dinner and put it behind us.When I went back to real flying last year, I was flying an Arrow IV out at CDW. It turns out this was the very same Arrow (a '79 model) that Eric used to rent to build up complex hours on while training for his future career. Small world.That reminds me, time to give him a call, as it's time for dinner and drinks again. Or is that drinks, dinner, drinks? Ah yes, that's how we usually do it! ;-)He's a good man, and I do deeply value our friendship, one that came out of FS and a mutual love of flying. :-)Regards,http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...RUM_LOUF_A2.jpg

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Lou,From the whole community, please send Eric our best wishes. We all miss him.Mike MacKuen


--Mike MacKuen
MikeM_AVSIM.png?dl=1

 

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Lou and Tom,Thanks for the update on Eric.I echo Mike MacKuen's sentiments and it is a great loss to the simming community.Like most who bought the 767PIC I was inspired by that aircraft and stil have FS2k2 on my system so that I can still fly it, a shame Eric is not part of the team developing the new version.From all his posts in the forums he came across as a good, honest, enthusiastic guy, I wish him well whatever his future plans.

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I second that. I felt like Eric was a friend even though we only e-mailed a few times. His work was so good, far ahead of his time. I really hate that he is no longer with the FS community but I'm glad to hear he's doing well.Lou, when you speak to him next time tell him "you're killing me here" said hello and best wishes. That was the subject line of an e-mail I sent him back when we were all waiting on his 767 panel for FS98 and we e-mailed back and forth a few times. Also tell him the offer still stands for Huntsville.

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Guest crashing_pilot

good luck Eric,glad to hear you're doing well.

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Guest KD

Tom,Very nicely put - I had no idea that 911 was the cause of his departure. Such a shame for the FS comunity but I wish him all the best in the future. Makes you wonder just who hasn't been affected by 911.KD

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Guest KD

Dreamfleet,Maybe you could mention to Eric next time you see him that he's not forgotten in the FS community?KD

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Thats an interesting story. While I can understand Eric's feelings I don't see this stuff the same way. I'm also a pilot (Delta) and while I dont do panels, I do like to paint and help out on development of all kinds of flying simulations. While its important to be vigilant,I won't let the #### get me down, plain and simple. Eric made the choice that was right for him and I respect that. Personally I haven't changed the way i do things for the most part. If we change to much they have won. I'm an American and I hate losing, especially to cowards like terrorists. I would like to say thanks to Eric for everything he has done for this hobby, I'm sure I used his stuff somewhere along the way!Hornit

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