Supervisor Stories: Edition 12
Welcome back to the latest edition of Supervisor Stories! Each edition of Supervisor Stories will introduce you to a handful of supervisors from the Infinite Flight Air Traffic Control team as they share their IFATC story and journey with the wider community. The IFATC Supervisor Team and the community as a whole is full of people from around the world, with a diverse range of backgrounds, cultures and experiences so there will never be a dull moment.
mwe2187 | IFATC Supervisor and IFVARB Admin
mwe2187's Supervisor Story
Hey everyone, I’m mwe (pronounced however you want to - and cool story moment - it’s just my initials).
I’m a 38 year old aviation nerd that started literally from the ground up when it comes to my IFATC and Infinite Flight journey. Outside of IF, I work in higher education as my day job, and then do live stats for the NFL, Big 12, and several other leagues and teams.
I joined IF prior to the Global release and made a comment on the old IFC that I wish this sim as multiplayer - little did I know in my noob self, it was. Levet, an OG of the community reached out to me and showed me the multiplayer side and invited me to join Delta Virtual and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Now for the ground up part. When I joined DLVA I knew nothing. Pattern work? Right traffic? Trim? These terms might as well have been written in Russian (I don’t know Russian). The famous TwoCFlyer, one of the founders of DLVA, took me under his wings and saw that I loved aviation but didn’t have any idea what I was doing. He taught me the basics, to the advanced, to reading approach plates, to landing and instrument approach. I am so thankful for TwoC and Levet because not only did they teach me the IF basics, they taught me what it meant to be a welcoming and kind person in the community.
Right after Global’s release, I then decided it was time to go for IFATC. My grandpa was ATC in the Air Force and it was always a huge interest for me. Then I took my first test… oof - failure big time. TwoC then prepped me again and I passed the second attempt with flying colours. The same happened on my practical and after a second perfect attempt, I was in!
I still remember my first session. My VERY first aircraft to help, I had a report. A 748 doesn’t fit at Queenstown. I had no idea what to do, panicked, asked in our Slack, and then reported. One for one on reporting, great start!
I settled in though and powered through. Attacked my first Friday Night Flight, made mistakes, learned from them, was stubborn, had to mature. Fought with Tyler, Drummer, Misha, and anyone I disagreed with. But they were right. And I got better.
Then my journey took a twist. The IFVARB was looking for a new admin, I was nominated because of my willingness to be helpful for the VA community. It has been a huge honour serving in that manor to assist people passionate like I am in running a VA.
This position eventually came with the promotion of being a supervisor in the IFATC. It was and has been a huge honour being in IFATC. From arguing with Tyler and Drummer, to working with them and learning with them. It has been a privilege to be a voice that they can listen to and one that can resonate. I greatly enjoy being able to help out our IFATC and give advice.
My biggest piece of advice, to both the experienced and the new is to always be learning. Don’t dwell on a mistake. The mistake happened and we all make them, it’s about what you do about it next time and learn from it. We are here for the community and we want to improve for the community.
I’ve learned so much in IFATC and on Infinite Flight, as well as the overall flight sim community. I’m thankful for each step of the way and thankful for those both before me and now with me a part of this journey.
aatogamer | IFATC Supervisor
aatogamer's Supervisor Story
Hi everyone! I’m Aato, I’m 16 years old and from Finland. Nearly my whole life I’ve actually not been interested in aviation at all, it was only after I took my first real-life flight in January 2024 when I actually got into aviation. I discovered Infinite Flight around that time, and played the non-pro version for a while. In the summer of the same year I decided to try out IF Pro, and have been flying in the skies of the live servers since.
I liked to control ATC on the training server, and discovered there was this group called IFATC. In September 2024, I decided to apply. I got picked up pretty quickly by my recruiter @Panther. I passed the written test first try with his guidance. I was offered training, but I chose not to take it, since I was not willing to commit a lot of time to that, and I was somewhat confident in my skills. It ended up paying off, and I passed my practical test on the first attempt in late September and became an IFATC Apprentice.
I got through into the Specialist rank fairly quickly, and controlled at various airports and traffic levels. The next step for me was radar frequencies, so I applied for the Officer rank once I met the requirements. With the extremely professional help from my recruiter @TRDubh and trainer @MagiK, I continued through radar training and passed my test on February 4th, 2025. I’ve controlled all kinds of different local and radar frequencies, and attended lots of training sessions in the year that I’ve been in IFATC, and it’s safe to say I’ve enjoyed it.
On 30th of August came news that I wasn’t expecting: I had been promoted to IFATC Supervisor. It’s a huge honour and I’m very thankful to the IFATC Moderator team. I will do my best to show that I’m worthy of the promotion.
That’s all from me. Thanks for reading and see you!
Wing_of_Hokkaido_JPN | IFATC Supervisor
Wing_of_Hokkaido_JPN's Supervisor Story
Hello everyone, I’m writing this from Japan.
I almost exclusively operate at Japanese airports(RJTT, RJAA, RJCC etc.) as IFATC. I prefer controlling in relaxed traffic level and keeping the high quality.
First of all, let me tell you what sparked my interest in ATC.
My passion for ATC was initiated by an ATC game “I am an Air Traffic Controller” (called “Bokukan” in Japanese abbreviation) which is selling in Japan. Airport layout, aircraft size, meteorological situation, effective instructions and so on…ATC has a lot of fascination and contains ideas that are useful for daily life and work practices.
My current job in real life is not ATC, but I learned the theory for efficiently advancing business tasks from the game.
Let’s get back to the topic of IF.
My first flight in IF was July 2022, and I joined the IFATC team in September thanks to my trainer @toasterstroodie.
Some rules and phrases of communication were different between IFATC and the game, but I was so satisfied that I could control with real virtual pilots.
About two and half years later, I tried to get Officer rank.
Because of my trainer @HK-168’s persistent support, I learned the knowledge and techniques about radar control. And finally, I could join the team of Officers.
Notifications of becoming Tester and IFATC Supervisor was truly a bolt from the blue for me.
If I could say just one thing, I have made it a point to participate in numerous training time sessions. Because I, too, have been helped by many training time participants. Training time participation is not only for trainees, but also to gain one’s own skills and some awareness from a new perspective.
Sometimes IFATC faces difficulties. Sometimes IFATC has to make tough decisions such as issuing violations, and sometimes IFATC gets hurt by thoughtless words. I experienced those during three years.
Therefore, I never stop considering the best way of controlling, and making a balance of practical operation and pilot satisfaction.
To conclude, I would like to express my gratitude to all IFATC and pilots who have supported me thus far, of course our Japanese team too.
Best regards!
Thanks for tuning into the latest edition of Supervisor Stories. These stories and this initiative is designed for community members to gain an understanding of what the journey into and through IFATC can entail and to encourage community members that are contemplating joining IFATC to do so, as it is certainly an experience you won’t regret as shown above by the stories of the supervisors.
Find the previous editions of IFATC Supervisor Stories and IFATC Trainer Tales here:
