767 Pilot in Command developer and 'study sim' pioneer Eric Ernst has died at the age of 51.
Capt Ernst passed away on April 10 but news of his death has only recently reached the FS community.
His freeware 757/767 panels for FS98 paved the way for the development of the hugely popular 767 Pilot in Command for FS2000 and subsequent Level-D 767.
767 PIC was the first time in-depth modelling of all major aircraft systems, along with realistic failure and autoflight modelling, had been seen in a desktop flight simulator.
Its successor, the Level-D 767, won widespread acclaim as one of the best add-ons ever created for MSFS and is still in use today, having been patched for P3D v3 compatibility last year.
In a post on the Level-D Simulations forum, developer Daryl Shuttleworth called Capt Ernst "an incredible guy" who "loved his family, friends, aviation, and the PIC 767" and allowed the Level-D team to incorporate much of his work.
LDS forum user Egajet said Ernst was "A true artist and a gentleman", saying he would remember his first flights with the 767 PIC "with emotion".
Capt Ernst started flying for American Eagle in 1991, joining American Airlines as a First Officer in 1999 and had recently been upgraded to Captain.
He is survived by his wife Randi, daughters Amanda and Cassandra and parents Raymond and Virginia.