When I grew up

Some of the things I wanted to put in my posts included flying stories, weird facts, conspiracy theories and just plain wander about in my memories. Stupid politicians may or may not show up but there are so many....enough.

I can't remember when I started wanting to be an Air Traffic Controller. My father went to work for the CAA right after WWII. He was in flight service. They called it "Radio" back then. When we lived in Wendover Utah I would ride my bike out to the old air base where dad worked and I would take him his lunch. It was so cool. All those teletype machines and radio's talking a mile a minute. Maybe that's when it started. I would stare in amazement while dad would transmit weather reports via Morse code. So cool.

When we later moved back home to Bryce Canyon, the radio station was much newer and had more sophisticated equipment. Aviation was growing up. Dad didn't use Morse code anymore. He sent all of his weather observations via the teletype and radio. He taught me how to take the temperature, dew point, wind direction, cloud cover, etc. I would then type very carefully all of the information onto a tiny strip of paper, making a bunch of holes. He showed me how to load the teletype tape into the "sender" and wait until it was time to transmit BYC. I would push the send button and watch as the teletype hammered out what I had typed.
By then, I was hooked.

Then in 1956 a TWA constellation collided with an United DC-7 over the Grand Canyon. President Eisenhour Spent Billions to upgrade the air traffic control system. He established the FAA. (Federal Aviation Administration). Dad was promoted, moved to Phoenix and was given the title of Air Traffic Controller. During summer vacations he would take me to work with him. Just by watching and asking a lot of questions I soon learned enough about non radar enroute air traffic control to KNOW what I wanted to do with my life.
I buckled down in high school. Started getting good grades so that I could join the Air Force and become an Air Traffic Controller. I became a control tower operator. Later I would learn the ins and outs of Radar. Precision approaches. What a rush. Bad weather, sitting in a cramped orange and white checkerboarded trailer bringing USAF fighters down through the clouds and right down the centerline to a safe landing. Every single controller I know has a huge ego. The ones with precision approach experience have the biggest. Our egos grew in direct proportion to the amount of adrenaline we generated during a shift. We had some pretty weird ways of bleeding off the adrenaline. (but thats another story).
Well, that is about it for this trip down the lane. Probably no one cares, but I like putting it down.