Colonel John ‘Karl’ Marks: The Longest-Flying A-10 Warthog Pilot In US Air Force History

The Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, known much better to civilians and military types by its beloved “Warthog” nickname, made its maiden flight on May 10, 1972. Like the other fifty-something (and older) warbirds in the US Armed Forces fleets the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and the Lockheed P-3 Orion come immediately to mind it’s safe to say that the Warthog is older than most of the pilots flying it.