John Dekker - Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. Learned Programming in High School by reading the book "Basic Basic". Started programming in FORTRAN, on a Honeywell 1648a Time Sharing computer at the Science Center. Came in second at the Florida State Science Fair for my program to predict hurricane paths. Went to school at Georgia Tech, worked at Vincennes University, where I met my wife, Carol. She was a TV newscaster that used a program I wrote to tally election results. We moved back to Atlanta, and I started working at a cellular company, which became Cingular. Currently I'm a Strategic Systems Architect at BellSouth. Met Doug and Robert Carol as we tried to improve the adventures generated by WinPlanner.  We felt that to do ATC right, we had to do it from the ground up, and thus Radar Contact was born. With the upcoming version 4, we feel that we've taken ATC to the next level.

Doug Thompson - Air traffic controller at the Memphis ARTCC. By implementing current 7110.65 FAA Rules and 24 years of experience, Radar Contact is putting you in the left seat where you will fly under today's current ATC jurisdiction. Forward your "Wish List" requests to Doug.

Rick Thompson - 55 yrs old living in Memphis, TN. I retired from the United States Air Force way back in 1991. I began my flight simming career in 1999 when JD and Doug asked me to join the RC team. Since my expertise lies more with computers than flight simming it is my job to handle the office administration of the RC machine.

Katherine Dekker - 12 year old daughter of John and Carol Dekker. Enjoys Math, Science, plays the trumpet and soccer.  She has a black lab named Moby.  She helps make the website "Pop". She wants to be a graphics artist when she grows up, which will be too soon.

Robert Abernathy- Born and raised near San Francisco, CA and loved anything that flew, including birds and the bees. Spent 4 yrs in the US Navy as an aerial photographer. Have some stick time in the Grumman S-2 but I'm not a licensed pilot. I started with FS95 when I got my first computer and started beta testing Radar Contact in 1999. (is that a record?) I like to fly low and slow with TCA suiting my simming style with some PNW thrown in too.

Robert Abernethy -I live in South Carolina with my wife and two kids. I work in the Information Technology field as a consultant and infrastructure manager. I bought my first copy of Flight Simulator in June 2004. I am especially interested in the navigation and communication aspects. Other hobbies include trains, saltwater fishing, and photography. I am honored to be a member of the Radar Contact 4 beta team.

Chip Barber -49 years young, a very tolerant (of my hobby) wife and 4 kids.  Been doing voices and beta work for about 3 years or so, and writing for Flightsim.com for a couple of months.  Been interested in flight simulation since '98, but didn't become obsessed until 2K2.  When I'm not flying, writing or doing Dad stuff, I work in the Medical Malpractice Insurance field, evaluating and settling personal injury claims.  It is both an honor and a pleasure to be involved with Radar Contact V4!

Dean Barry - A 44yr old resident of RAF Cardington UK; home of the ill-fated R101 Airship.  Began Flight simming back in the early 90's with Sub Logic's wonderful ATP and when Windows were still just holes in walls.

Howard Bloom - I live in Arlington Heights, IL a NW suburb of Chicago, about 3 miles W of KPWK and about 15 miles NW of KORD.  I bought my first computer in 1984, an IBM PC jr with one 5 1/4 inch floppy drive  and 128kb of memory.   BTW, my first software purchase was FS II, also on one 5 1/4 disk. Flight Simulation has been my savior and has helped me retain whatever sanity I still have.  I was fortunate enough to attend all the early MicroWINGS conventions, and made many wonderful friends like Bruce Artwick, Charlie Gulick, Jim Maas, Joe Lincoln, Steve Halpern, Laeming Wheeler, Doug Horton, Trev Morson and many many more.  At one of the early conventions I had an opportunity to fly the full motion 737 and Lear simulators and to visit and meet with the Microsoft Flight Simulator team at their offices in Redmond.   I have also been lucky enough to be a part of the last three FS betas.

Jon Boe - I retired from U S West/Qwest, the local telephone company, in 2000, and after spending a year or two becoming more or less a gourmet cook, saw a news article about someone who had converted an old Boeing 737 shell into a flight simulator.  Having flown on and off for 30 years it rekindled my interest in flight simulation so about two years ago I started building a Boeing 747.  I guess this makes me the “newbie” on the team!

Andy Brockbank - I am 48 years of age and work for the Australian Government. I currently live in Brisbane the capital of the State of Queensland with my wife and cat (Bob) my son having sprouted wings and flown the coup some years ago. Come 2006 I will be relocating to the northern coast of Tasmania - an early step toward retirement. My interest in FS commenced in the late 1970's when I caught my first glimpse of FS1 on a Apple II. I have been involved in flight simming since the days of FS3 followed by Flight Assignment ATP. I continually marvel at the graphical advances provided by the introduction of new technology. Aviation has been a lifetime interest for me and whilst I cannot fly the real thing I have a vivid imagination and easily disappear into my own world when in front of a PC.

G A Brouwer - I'm a 33 year old South African currently living in the Netherlands. Flight simulation has intrigued me throughout it's development from Flight Simulator 1. Today we have a simulation that poses a challenge and a learning curve in order to fly like a real pilot. This could not have been achieved without developers like JDTLLC providing add-ons geared for ultimate realism. Just as many others, I’ve had countless hours of enjoyment provided by RC3.1. RC4, which has yet again raised the bar of realism in FS2004, will continue to do so! I'm honored to be able to contribute to RC4.

John Burgess - I am a 49 year old teacher of Physics and Maths living near Perth in Scotland. Prior to that (a long time ago) I was a researcher with the UK Meteorological office. I've been flightsimming since FS5 days and have been on the beta team since shortly after the launch of v1. It's been a great experience and has at last given me something useful to do with trigonometry!

Scott Campbell

Michael Collier -I'm 40 years old and live in Phoenix Arizona about 18 miles West of Sky Harbor International. I'm currently a Senior Flight Dispatcher with America West Airlines, now US Airways. I've been an avid user of flight simulator dating back to 1986 when I first purchased a copy of SubLogic's Flight Simulator 2 for the commodore 64/128.  (I still have that on 5.25" floppy!).  I then progressed into SubLogic's ATP and then the MS Flight Sims. I was first drawn to Radar Contact in my quest to find the best ATC add-on available.  The "make it or break it" criteria for me was proper phraseology, and when I read that Doug was an active controller with Memphis Center I KNEW I was going to be in for a treat.  The first time I was told to "descend and maintain ONE-FIVE THOUSAND" (versus FIFTEEN THOUSAND voiced in other available ATC products at the time) I knew that I'd found the realism I'd been searching for! Although I've not been as active as I would like lately, I've had the honor and privilege to be a part of the Radar Contact family for the last few years. It's been a fantastic experience and I look forward to many years and many future versions of RC!

Francesco Cozzi -44 years old from Rome, Italy. Married, two daughters (24 and 12) and a son (5, I work for an IT Italian firm, fond of aeronautics since I was a child. My first flight simulator was FS for Commodore 64, and went on with FS3, FS4, ATP, X-Plane, FS5.1, FS98, FS2002. Not to talk about countless military flight simulators I don't fly since DOS passed away...I realized some FS98 sceneries to commemorate 1920s-30s French Aeropostale service (you can find them on Flightsim.com or at the Old Hangar ( - I'm very proud of them - they were times when I had sooo much free time;-)). My only other hobby is to read - and I have right now so little time for both of them!
 

Peter Dowson - English. 62 this year. Married 41 years, three grownup children, two grandchildren. Programmer since 1963, first working on LEO (the first business computer in the world). Got into personal computers when the first appeared (6502 breadboard, Commodore Pet 2001, Apple). Wrote Wordcraft, the successful Word Processor, and the first program to use a dongle (which I invented along with my colleague). Got into FS programming with FS4 (QuickScene and an EPIC interface, as well as some BGL merge/rationalisation utilities). Full time on FS stuff now since FS2000 but self-financed till FS2004. Hobbies outside FS include N-gauge model railways, real steam railways around the world, table tennis (played since aged 12), and -- until my eyesight deteriorated -- astronomy. Flew for real for a while but never got a license because of severe tunnel vision and glare/fog (still getting worse year by year) due to hereditary Retinitis Pigmentosa. For same reason, not allowed to drive and don't get about much without my dear wife or some friendly accompaniment.

Gary Hack - aka "nukefixer", Hailing from Lynchburg Virginia area, a transplant from Manchester Connecticut, USA. I retired from the US. Navy in 1989 after over 20 years service as a Chief Petty Officer. I now work for a company called AREVA, where I perform maintenance on commercial nuclear power plants around the  US, England and France and also participate in maintenance activities on various US Navy nuclear powered vessels. I joined Radar Contact as a Beta tester with version 2 and have provided voice sets on various versions. My hobbies include woodworking while my main avid passion remains with MS Flight Simulator and Radar Contact. I also fly for a virtual flight sim airline, TCA.

J.C. Howell - J.C. is an instrument-rated private pilot living in Logan, UT. He is currently a senior at Utah State University majoring in Accounting. J.C. first began flight simming in 1998 with FS 5, which led to his interest in real-life aviation. J.C. also has extensive experience in the flight simulation field, having done repaints for various aircraft, as well as being a beta tester for Dreamfleet. When not simming, J.C. likes to spend his time playing golf, watching baseball or college football, and playing games on his computer. He has a blog at http:\\172pilot.blogspot.com.

Stuart Hyett - I am 50 years old and live in Marden, Kent, UK with my wife and 2 children (18 and 22).  I am an IT Project Manager working for Shell Aviation and have been involved in the Aviation business for the last 16 years.  This has allowed me to get up close and dirty with many types of aircraft and to visit many different airports around the world.  I guess once one gets the wiff of Jet fuel it tends to have a lasting effect on one's psychie!  I've have been a keen Flight Simmer since FS95, and have found RC to be the "best thing since sliced bread" when flying offline, and I am glad to be able to offer some additional English voices to the product.  Hats off to everyone involved in improving a great product, not least of course to John, Doug and Rick.

Subin Jacob - I'm 24yrs old currently living in Brisbane, Australia, even though I have spent significant a part of my life in Libya, India, and Singapore. I have always been interested in the aviation world for as long as I can remember, and became part of the 'flightsim' world with FS5.1 - I still remember my first flight (and crash) with the default lear taking off from RWY36 at KCGX. With what seems like thousands of touch 'n goes later, I'm now happy flying 747-400s across the world (virtually of course). I joined late in the RCv1 beta cycle many years ago, providing advice on oceanic airspace especially in the South Pacific region. Since then my friendship with John, Doug, and the beta team have grown, and I am still honored to be part of this amazing group.

Bob Johnson - I am 64 year old retired IBMer, where I managed computer sales and product development. Prior to my IBM career I served in the USAF, where I was navigator on KC/EC 135s.   I live in Denver Colorado where I enjoy skiing and biking not to mention being a FS addict for years.

Craig Keating -Always loved aviation. I was bit by the "bug" in the Commodore 64 days, by Sublogic's Flight Simulator. Been into simming ever since, a brief stint as a virtual military pilot courtesy of Falcon 3.0, Tornado, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. But my main interest is with the civilian sims, from Sublogic's ATP, FS4, FS5, Flight Unlimited 1,2 and 3; all the way up to the current day FS9. Very grateful to have been invited onto the RC team. This is a great program and a great group. Short of flying for real every day, this is the next best thing. The combination of MSFS and RC really "keeps the dream alive" for me.

Richard Lawrence - I am 32 years old. I live in Atlanta, Ga. I own and operate a small computer company “Computers and Solutions”.  I have played drums for 20 years. I have been flight simming since Flight Simulator 95. I have a great love for flying and would like to pursue a PPL in the future.  

Pelle F.S. Liljendal - I am a 36 year old Dane, and I have been working as a software developer/IT-consultant since I graduated. All my life I’ve been interested in Flight Simulation and have over the years been managing a website for a VA-HUB, repainting planes, and producing a single Scenery (Prestwick/Scotland) for FS98/2000. Also I’ve been joining 2 of my interests by lending a helping hand transforming the FSUIPC SDK from C into Borland Delphi, and I have written an application called FS-Interrogate (also bundled with FSUIPC SDK) which helps add-on developers and cockpit builders get a better understanding what they can access through Peter Dowson’s FSUIPC/WideFS.

Michael McEvilley - Instrument Rated Private Pilot from Brooklyn NY (Let's Go METS!), currently living in Chantilly VA (about 25 miles west of DC and within the pattern of 1R @ KIAD).   My personal time is spent playing guitar (mostly a Strat) and flight simming, where I particularly enjoy flying the "Big Boeings" in accordance with real-world procedures.  Like others on the RC Beta Team, I was first introduced to airliner operations via SubLogic's "Flight Assignment: ATP".  From there I went to PMDGs FLY! airliners, 767PIC and I'm now exclusively flying the LDS 767 ... and of course ... with Radar Contact.  It is only Radar Contact that provides a high fidelity and complete ATC environment that matches the high fidelity airliner simulations that we are now able to enjoy.

Bryan Opalka - I am a Developer/Consultant working for a large IT company based in Texas.  I started using FS back on my Apple II+ computer when it was just a bunch of green lines.  The old SubLogic ATP program really got me interested in the whole flight sim hobby because it offered flight assignments and (more importantly) ATC.  This eventually led to my interest in Virtual Airlines and joining the Noble Air VA.  I am currently the Hub Captain for the Noble Air Chicago hub.  At the AVSIM 2004 conference in Denver, I had the great fortune of joining the RC4 beta team.

Pete Pitman

Devin Pollock

Ray Proudfoot - I'm a 54 year-old programmer in the British Civil Service working for the Ministry of Defence. I specialise in databases - both Access and Oracle. I've lived for the last 31 years in the north-west of England near Manchester Airport - home of G-BOAC - one of the now sadly grounded British Airway's Concordes. I first got into flight simulation just as FS5.1 came out in the early 90's and my interest in it has remained with me ever since. I don't smoke or gamble so I think it's fine to have a vice like FS! My most recent contribution to the flight sim community is a spreadsheet designed to help fuel loading with the PSS Concorde which can be found in the AvSim library.

Mark Salt

Sidney Schwartz -I'm 52 years old and live in Beaverton, Oregon with my wife and daughter. I became interested in flight simming around 1986 and have owned every version of MSFS since then, as well as others like Pro Pilot, Flight Unlimited and X-Plane. I started using RC back when Microsoft had not yet added ATC capability to FS. I've stayed with RC because it's been consistently more realistic and versatile than FS's own ATC. I've been a beta tester for RC for several thousand years, or at least it feels that way.

Sanford Seidler - I'm a a retired electrical engineer/computer simulation model developer.  Jean and I live in Stamford, Connecticut.  We have three daughters, one son-in-law and two college-age grandsons.  My association with real-world aviation began in World War II, during with I served aboard an aircraft repair ship -- USS Chourre -- and continued later on as a contractor and consultant to the Navy.  I've been a flight simulator enthusiast ever since Bruce Artwicks's FS1 (on  an Apple II) and Subgic's ATP.  Other activities include bridge, cooking, walking, and sailing on Long Island Sound.  Although have no background either as a pilot or in ATC, I'm happy to be a member of the team and to contribute in any way that I can.

Michael Turano - I've enjoyed flightsimming since the days of Jetfighter 2 for DOS. I created both Pilot and Controller voice sets for RC3. Soon after, I had the honour of joining the Beta Team. My first PC was a Gateway Pentium 120 with 32MB of screaming RAM back in the late '90s (those were the days!), and have since been building my own PC's. My wife and I are big-time Anglophiles (Note K & C Cricket Sweater ;-) ) I've played saxophone, clarinet and flute with a variety of bands over the years. I'm married and live in New York.

Bill Worth - I am a 61 year-old clerk in a business office located in Vancouver, Washington.  Before the office role, I worked as a patrol officer for the police department in Juneau Alaska,  I retired from the Juneau Police Department in 1998. Prior to my career in law enforcement, I was a flight instructor, charter pilot, and sometimes corporate pilot.  I flew mostly in the Western United States during the 60's and 70's.  My love of flying began when I was a child.  I lived in Modesto California and I used to hang around the airport and watch airplanes on the weekends.  One day a very nice man named Hank Manning, who ran a small flight school, took pity on me and took me up in a Tri-Pacer.  I had to sit on a cushion to see out.  But he let me "fly" the airplane.  He continued to give me free flying lessons, as he could, over the years to follow.  By the time I was twelve he had me so I could handle the basics...of a Tri-Pacer with interconnected controls that is.  Hank Manning was a rare individual indeed. I feel honored to be included in this group. For I have little to offer in comparison to the rest of you.  My computer skills pale in comparison to yours and procedures have changed since I was an active pilot.  However, this is a great hobby.  And it's folks like you all that make it great.

Barry Young