Bio
Captain Buzz "Ballistic" Hoffman, USAF (Ret), is a veteran of 10 years of U.S. Air Force aviation. From 1967 to 1968, Captain Hoffman was a Scout in an Armored Cavalry Unit in Vietnam. After his Tour of Duty, he entered the University of Wisconsin on the Montgomery GI Bill and obtained a BBS degree and an Air Force ROTC commission. His USAF assignments have included over 1,450 hours in fighter aircraft including the T-37 "Tweet", T-38 "Talon", F-5E "Tiger II" and F-16A "Fighting Falcon" with the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron (Black Widows) at Hill AFB, Utah.
Overseas assignments include deployments to Spain, Germany, and Norway. Training has included TAC (3 days of wargames), and RED FLAG.
After retiring from flying, Captain Hoffman attended Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA and obtained a MBA in Finance. While attending Golden Gate University, he became interested in computers as a hobby which led to an interest in computer flight simulation. He has been involved in the development of nearly all serious flight simulations, either as a consultant, or beta tester/consultant with all the major flight simulation production companies.
He has flown the Lockheed F-16C Block 50 "FalconStar" flight simulator - intended as a USAF squadron level trainer, as well as the NASA/Lockheed Space Shuttle Landing and Engineering Simulators at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
From the very beginnings of ThrustMaster, Inc., the features, functions, look and feel of all ThrustMaster's flight controllers and F-16 Cockpit are a direct result of his experience in the cockpit as a United States Air Force Fighter Pilot. Captain Hoffman is currently the Vice President of Technical Support and Application Software, and is involved in the development of all of ThrustMaster's current and future flight simulation controls.
Hits since 19 January 1996: