DL Capt. Charles A. Carlon

 

~ IN MEMORY ~

Military veteran, DL Capt. Charles A. Carlon

July 28, 1948 ~ October 3, 2021

 

From colleagues we have learned of the passing of retired Delta pilot Captain Charles Alexander Carlon, age 73.  Captain Carlon’s very good friend PSA/USAirways retired Captain Tony Badali has written and was kind enough to share Charlie’s obituary …please see below.  Captain Carlon joined Delta Air Lines  10-24-1977.  He is survived by his wife Sally plus many more dear friends and family members.

At this time no services are planned.

 

Thank you,

~ Carol for the PCN 

 

Obituary :  Capt. Charles A. Carlon, 73, flew West on his final flight on October 3, 2021. He died of complications from a

brain bleed caused by an accidental blow to his head.  

Charlie was born on July 28, 1948 in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents were LTCOL Ted Carlon and his wife Lenora. They lived in Ohio and the Chicago area suburbs until moving to Miami in 1959, where Charlie lived until his death.  He attended Christopher Columbus High , a private Catholic college preparatory school. After graduation he completed his Associate Degree at Miami Dade College and then his Bachelor of Science in Business at Florida State University.

 

Charlie’s Dad was an Air Force pilot during WW2 and stayed active flying his entire life. This was perhaps Charlie’s spark for his own passion for flying airplanes.  While at Miami Dade College, Charlie earned his FAA Private Pilot certification, the first of many licenses he would hold throughout his aviation career. After his junior year at FSU, Charlie enrolled in the United States Navy Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate program.  This program allowed him to complete the first 8 weeks of officer training prior to graduation. After graduating from FSU in 1971, Charlie completed basic officers

training and entered Navy Flight School.  During flight training and because of his high academic and flight grades, he chose the “Prop” pipeline as his best path to becoming an airline pilot after his service. He flew the T-28 and TS-2A aircraft during flight training, carrier qualified, and was designated as a Naval Aviator.  His first assignment was flying the Lockheed EP-3 Aries aircraft as a member of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) at NAS Agana, Guam. As a Patrol Plane Commander, he flew electronic surveillance missions over the South China Sea, and probably some

classified locations as well.  After this tour, Charlie was assigned to Training Squadron 27 (VT-27) in Corpus Christi, Texas as a T-28 Instructor.

 

While on terminal leave from the Navy in 1977, Charlie realized another dream when he was hired to fly for Delta Air Lines. During his 27 year career at Delta, he flew the Boeing 727,737,757,767, Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, McDonnell-Douglas MD-88, and retired early as an International Boeing 777 Captain.  It was while flying for Delta that another dream came true when he met and married his beautiful bride Sally, a Delta Flight Attendant. They had many adventures

together, but one of their favorite special activities was volunteering at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula FL.

 

Charlie was a man of many interests and talents. After taking an early retirement from Delta, he channeled his

interest in computers into becoming an Apple certified MAC Genius at an Apple retail store locally. He was

particularly revered for his ability to teach senior citizens how to use their Apple products. He also had his own

business as a technical consultant helping individuals set up personal and business computer systems.

Aviation came calling again, and Charlie found a new passion instructing at the Miami Airbus Training Center.

Here he taught the Airbus A320/330/350 in state of the art simulators to hundreds of students over his 14 years

there. When training dwindled in 2020 due to the Pandemic, he found another opportunity at the Boeing

Flight Training Center just down the road as a Boeing 767 Instructor.

 

Charlie had many great friends and associations over his very full life. He was active in the local Indian Motorcycle

Club, an aircraft owner and FAA certified Light Sport Aircraft Repairman. He was a skilled marksman and gun

owner, winning several competition shooting awards.  As an Amateur radio operator (N7CAC) Charlie acquired

all the latest greatest equipment to pursue his hobby. He was also the Key Man at the Miami Hangar of the Quiet

Birdmen for many years.

 

For Charlie there was never a project too tough to be tackled, whatever it might be. Charlie was a talented

handyman and mechanic. He could fix or build just about anything, and derived great satisfaction doing it.

Captain Carlon is survived by his wife Sally, his brothers Ted, Jerry, Christopher and sister Celine along with many

nieces and nephews.

 

No services are planned at this time.