RFT 378: Air Force/Airline Pilot Tom Carlin

Tom Carlin started his aviation career as an Air Force navigator, flying KC-135 airborne refueling tanker aircraft. On his own, he obtained a Private Pilot certificate and bought an airplane.

Often, his commander needed Tom’s assistance with air transportation issues using his C-172 that could not be accommodated quickly with Air Force aircraft, and he quickly became the “go to guy” of the unit flying parts to broken T-37's in the ACE program as well as picking up needed Wing goodies like BBQ and competition jackets when they became time critical. This visibility was instrumental in his getting an assignment to Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT).

Following UPT, he became an Aircraft Commander in the C-141. He had numerous missions that involved air refueling and extended crew duty times, sometimes requiring triple air refuelings to get to the destination. 

Later, he flew the E-3 AWACS, again on extended missions, sometimes exceeding 24 hours.

After Air Force retirement, he started his airline career with a major airline, and purchased another airplane, this time a retired Air Force T-41 Mescalero trainer. It turns out this is the EXACT airplane your humble podcast host flew as a student pilot in Air Force UPT at Laughlin Air Force Base in 1967!