~ 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.
