Vance was first licensed as W5GST October 12, 1937. He held numerous other calls since then, having moved around the country. In the days gone by, he used to build his own transmitters. Vance talked to the world via Amateur Radio, either by voice, by Morse Code or by PSK31.
From 1941 to 1949 Vance was a Flight Radio Officer with Pan American World Airways. He flew out of Brownsville, TX, New Orleans, LA and San Francisco, CA. This was when a CW was used to keep in touch with over seas airline flights. Read about his eight years with Pan Am here.
Vance was in radio and electronics all his life: Broadcast Engineer, PAA FRO, Eimac as a Electronic Technition, KRON-TV Engineer and 18 years with Ampex Corporation as a Senior Field Service Engineer and Office Manager.