Lt. Col. Olga Custodio, a retired T-38 instructor pilot and the first Latina U.S. Air Force pilot, is the next speaker in the EAA Aviation Museum Speaker Series. Olga will share her experience of breaking through barriers to get into the cockpit and instructing her fellow airmen in her presentation at the EAA Aviation Museum on Thursday, April 17, at 7 p.m.
Olga grew up seeing the world with her family while her father served in the Air Force. “Living around the world, we were kind of representatives of the U.S. and how other nations and other cultures saw us. So, I saw that his service was impactful,” she said. Her father’s pride in his service and his country inspired her own path to the Air Force.
“I tried to join the ROTC, but when I graduated high school at 16, and when I went to college, the ROTC attachment I went to rejected me because, unbeknownst to me, women weren’t allowed,” she said. “So, I had to wait. And then when I met my husband and we got married after college, I tried to join again through a recruiter, and despite my degree and my high AFOQT scores, the recruiter did not want to give me an opportunity to get a commission as an officer in the Air Force, and that’s what I was looking for.”
Despite the multiple roadblocks simply due to her gender, she wasn’t going to give up. Not too long after WASP pilots were recognized with veteran status in 1977 did Olga finally get her chance. “I started working for the Department of Defense, and that’s around when they opened up the opportunity. They were looking for female candidates in the Air Force for pilots, and that’s when I decided to apply again,” she said. “So, it was quite the journey. Ten years later, after my first attempt in college, I finally got it.”
In 1980, Olga started her pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas, where she graduated among the top of her class and fighter qualification. “I was able to select the T-38 as my first assignment,” she said. “It was challenging, but it was great. And then I was elected to stay there as a T-38 instructor pilot, being the first female T-38 instructor pilot at Laughlin Air Force Base.”
“To me, being first was never my intention. I just wanted the opportunity. … But I did know that I was the only female instructor pilot [on base], so I did carry that burden. I had to show what females could do and set the ground and path for the ones that came behind me,” she said. “It was quite a challenge for me being the first female because my students were mostly male, and they questioned everything I was teaching them.”
Olga overcame these challenges through leadership, emotional intelligence, and a great amount of patience. Her determination paid off, and her teaching style and techniques had her promoted to training instructors.
“I think being an instructor helps make you a better pilot. If you can teach it, you can fly it,” she said. “Being an instructor working with weaker students, I was recognized and recommended to go to the pilot instructor training squadron at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, where we teach Air Force pilots to become instructors in the T-38. That was a lot of fun because now you’re not teaching basics. You’re teaching instructor techniques on how to fly and talk at the same time.”
Olga spent eight years on active duty as an instructor pilot before moving to the reserve and pursuing a career flying commercial airliners in 1988. She was hired by American Airlines as a flight engineer on the 727 before moving up to first officer. “Then from there, I upgraded to captain on the Fokker 100 in Dallas, and I eventually went to the 767 and 757 in Miami where I flew internationally.” Another barrier broken; Olga was the first Latina pilot at American Airlines and retired as a captain.
Since her retirement in 2010, Olga has happily transitioned from military jets and commercial airliners to general aviation aircraft – but her favorite remains the T-38. “To me, of all the aircraft I’ve flown, the T-38 is still my favorite. And just recently in October last year, I had the opportunity to fly it again,” she said. “It had been since 1986 that I had flown in the T-38. But I’ll tell you what, I sat in that aircraft, and it was like I had flown it yesterday. It was incredible. We went out and did maneuvers and aileron rolls and all kinds of stuff. Flying upside down again was awesome.”
Not only is she still flying, but she is committed to sharing her story and inspiring future aviators. “Once I retired, I knew that I had to do something to try and help this next generation, and so I really got involved with nonprofits, sit on boards, I do presentations, I talk to Girl Scout troops and schools, and I get to go speak to corporations and different government agencies and universities,” she said.
“I say this a lot: It’s not only good to be visible, but it’s important to stay relevant and most of all to stay accessible. I think that’s key to influencing this new generation of our next aviators, and that will give them the confidence to keep going. They say, ‘You can see it, you can be it.’ So that’s what I’m trying to do now,” she said. “The aircraft doesn’t recognize if you’re male, a female, if you’re black or white or brown. It doesn’t matter; it’s what kind of skills and airmanship that you have.”
At the end of March, Olga released her first book, Flightpath of Fortitude: Breaking Barriers, Building Horizons, which will be available for purchase in EAA’s Barnstormer Boutique prior to the presentation.
Thursday’s presentation is free for EAA members and youths, and just $5 for nonmembers.
If you’re unable to attend, all Speaker Series presentations are recorded and will be available to members to watch here at a later date.