Chris Olmstead found a love in aviation through his grandfather, a former Air Force pilot, when he took Chris up in his Cessna 172. It also followed in his blood through his mother who was a Chinook pilot in the Army. Chris started playing flight simulator when he purchased FS2004 and a cheap Saitek joystick and has been hooked ever since. He stumbled on BVA in its GameSpy days and joined in January 2011 and has been involved in the community ever since. It was only 5 or 6 months before Chris joined the air traffic control team, which has been a second passion of his for a long time. Chris attributes his ease with communicating with ATC in the real world to his time spent on BVA. In the span of a couple years, Chris obtained his C1 rating and has been a fully rated BVA Boston Center controller since 2014. Chris now holds the position of Facilities Engineer, responsible for managing and updating BVA’s facility files.
Chris is a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and a United States Army helicopter pilot.