A Tribute to Bill Dick (R.I.P.)

Bill Dick: Departed... But Not Forgotten

A reknowned contributor to the MS Flight Simulator Community, Richard William (Bill) Dick aged 78, of North Saanich B.C. passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family, on August 26 2013.

Bill was born in Melita Manitoba , graduated college in Winnipeg Manitoba, worked for many years in the auto body repair industry, and eventually established his own business, Bill's Motorcycle in Sidney B.C.

Known affectionately to some as "Willybee", Bill learned to fly GA "low and slow" prop aircraft at an early age on a small airfield near the US - Canadian border, and later in life, became an avid MS Flight Simulator enthusiast.

Bill was as adept with repainting aircraft as he was with repainting automobiles and motorcycles, and was also known to create custom liveries and the occasional instrument panel for aircraft which he shared with his friends during multi-player flghts online in MS Flight Simulator.

Bill traveled extensively in Canada and the USA, but was particularly fond of the Pacific Northwest, where he made his home in the wooded coastal area a few miles Northwest of Victoria International Airport in British Colombia, Canada.

During Bill's many travels in his early life, then with his beloved wife Martha, and soon after as a family with their several children, he acquired a great appreciation for the scenery in different places he had visited.

Bill's appreciation for- and recollection of- the unique features and ambiance that different environments have, was an asset which he generously shared with the FS Community when he began creating freeware add-on scenery for MS Flight Simulator.

Bill became legendary for his amazing speed, and innovative use of default and custom scenery objects when creating numerous immersive sceneries of airfields and seaplane bases for GA flying, and was particularly noted for his work in the Pacific Northwest (aka "PNW") which provided an immersive, rustic 'look and feel' for virtual "Bush" pilots to enjoy in multiple versions of MS Flight Simulator.

Bill was revered for having created custom scenery for the many airfield waypoints visited during cross-country flights which he shared with his many friends during multi-player flghts online in MS Flight Simulator.

Bill's most recent custom scenery for cross-country airfield waypoints was for a multi-player "Emma Field to Plum Island Flight" conducted in stages over several sequential weekends a few years ago, and coordinated his efforts with those of Ed Wells (aka "falcon409") who also created a number of waypoint airfields for the scenery used during that flight.

Bill contributed numerous scenery packages (sometimes as part of a development 'team') for the Misty Fiords and Tongass Fiords area of the PNW in MS FS2004 (aka "FS9"), which are available via the "Misty Moorings" web site at:
http://www.mistymoorings.com/office/index.php


One such scenery add-on package created by Bill and several other noted FS developers (aka "The Amigos"), became very popular with PNW "bush flyers" for its innovative and immersive setting in the challenging and rugged areas of glaciers in southwest Alaska.

Stikene Icefield Research Project (aka "S.I.R.P.") is also available via the "Misty Moorings" web site at:
http://www.mistymoorings.com/tongass/

Information helpful for new and existing users of the S.I.R.P." scenery package is available at:
http://edtruthan.com/sirp/sirpmanual.htm
http://www.edtruthan.com/sirpfixes/

Other add-on scenery packages for multiple versions of MS Flight Simulator contributed by Bill Dick are available at AVSIM:
http://library.avsim.net/search.php?CatID=root&SearchTerm=bill+dick&Sort=Added&ScanMode=1&Go=Change+View

Bill also appreciated the work of other MS Flight Simulator developers, and was involved in beta-testing of various add-on products.

Bill had an especially great appreciation for the LAGO Emma Field add-on scenery package that became a best-seller for its innovative features, storyline, and appeal to PNW bush flyers in the early days of FS2002 and FS2004.

Emma Field (aka "KEWL") eventually spawned a FS forum community for the thousands who acquired that scenery package, and inspired a legendary legacy of adventure, mischief, and creative add-on contributions which, IMHO, was- and will continue to be- an asset to the FS Community.


Bill enjoyed an active participation in the MS Flight Simulator online forum community, and his many forum posts on a mix of topics with helpful insights (some featuring his penchant for 'down-to-earth' humor) are still to be found at various FS web sites.

Many of Bill's simFlight forums posts (including those in the Emma Field Flying Club forum aka "EFFC") are found at:
http://forum.simflight.com/index.php?app=core&module=search&section=search&do=search&fromsearch=1

Bill (often with Phil Cayton aka "Snowman") made a number of custom add-on scenery packages for Lago's Emma Field FS2002 and FS2004 in the immediate and extended aerodrome area.

Some of the features of those add-on scenery packages reflected Bill's lively sense of humor as he mischievously 'flew in the face' of fictional NOTAMS issued by the founding fathers of Emma Field, by expanding the "KEWL" experience through release of add-ons that provided night lights, runways for large aircraft and hangars in violation of the long-term design concept envisioned for the future of the aerodrome.

Several of Bill's original freeware add-on scenery packages for Emma Field which were no longer available for download (due to a FS web site going off-line) may again be made freely available for download by interested individuals in the near future via a public secure web server.

These "classic" freeware add-on scenery packages for Emma Field by Bill Dick et al may include (as a minimum):

'Night' Lights for KEWL RWYs and Taxiways
Private Hangars East of the KEWL grass RWY
East-West RWY and 'Private' Aerodrome extension East of the KEWL grass RWY
The 'infamous' utility corridor Jet-compatible RWY Northwest of KEWL RWY 36/18

Bill also teamed up with Phil Cayton and Chris Brisland (aka "Eagleskinner" aka "CBris") to produce the FSX-compatible add-on scenery package "Bushflight Northwest", featuring landclass texture and other airport enhancements for the Olympic Peninsula and which preceded release of the (incompatible) OrbX FTX NA Blue "PNW" demo and full region payware add-on scenery package.

Bill's personable style of communication, his humor, his attention to detail, and his many generous freeware contributions to the MS Flight Simulator Community will always be remembered and appreciated by those who had the good fortune of making his acquaintance.

I believe many of us here may prefer to think of Bill as still with us in Spirit, ...flying the friendly skies above.

An E-Mail message sent by his wife of 56 years, Martha, to those who knew Bill more closely, said:
"In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Victoria Hospice."
http://www.victoriahospice.org/

With sincere condolences to Bill's family and friends,

GaryGB