I began using HF communications in the AF to receive and relay position reports to ATC from aircraft flying over the Caribbean, my next assignment took me to a new squadron where the comm. equipment hadn't fully been implemented before I left for Panama, where I ran phone patches to S. American capitals to U.S. Consulates and military missions. Next, to England for more HF air/ground communications, three years at that, then one year of MARS station work in GA, followed by UHF communications in Vietnam near the end of the conflict. At this point I re-trained into ATC, and worked a RAPCON in CA for eighteen months before going to work at an FAA tower, where I remained for twenty-one years. At the end of my AF career I began flight instructing, and recommended several students for their instrument check rides, as well as numerous private pilot recommendations. ATCs working as flight instructors was frowned upon by FAA, so I gave that interesting job up to concentrate on my new career. At present I am a daily user of X-Plane and I keep up my instrument skills in the B-787, a wonderfully maneuverable aircraft.
Glad to be here with such a diverse crowd. I learned about this place from my subscription to FlightAware newsletter.