Born in Exeter Devon and spent my childhood living in Crediton, Holsworthy and Bideford, until moving to Bristol in 1960’s. Retired Engineer returning back to Devon in 2015.
I had an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce Aero Engines as an electronic engineer, this was during the Vulcan flying test bed, Concorde and Harrier Jump Jet times. ( yes despite the contrary England did invent the jet engine, supersonic passenger travel and the vertical take off aircraft and still has the best jet engines in the world. )
Worked for Stothert & Pitt cranes and spent interesting times across the world fixing them. Culminating in winching in the first ever ship into the Devonport frigate complex – scary stuff !
Spent a few years electronic serving of CNC controlled machinery including Fanuc systems and PDP8 computers.
Learnt to fly in the 1980’s my cross county test being Compton Abbas – Salisbury – Dunkeswell – Exeter.
Scary bits: Parachute Jump Dunkerswell, going down the Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh track (Norway) and working in Soweto South Africa during the 1976 apartheid uprising.
The rest of my working life I ran a communications company suppling Motorola, Tait and Icom PMR equipment.
Amateur radio licence G7SOJ obtained in 1985
Obtained my degree in computing from Bath university in 2010.