Posted by xxxxxx on January 28, 2003:

Thanks for the kind words, but the kudos belong to Art Barondes, He runs the death notification system - email and telephone. We work very closely in exchanging email addresses. His list is more extensive than mine in that he has some who don't want to participate in anything but the death notices,i.e. - too much SPAM otherwise. ED ----- Original Message ----- From: irv schoenberg To: Edward A. Kritzer Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2002 5:40 PM Subject: Re: usma1948: Emailing: schalk.htm Ed, We commend you for the good work you're doing with respect to death notices of our classmates. It is sad, but we appreciate being informed. The "art" work and picture included with the notice about Lou Schalk is excellent. I think I can speak for all or most of us that we'd like to have you continue that format. Did you have a database available with photo and data? What should be done to make it possible for you to do the same for all death notices? Surely there will be others. Irv Schoenberg ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward A. Kritzer To: USMA '48 Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2002 6:35 AM Subject: usma1948: Emailing: schalk.htm Louis W. "Lou" Schalk Louis W. "Lou" Schalk is best known for piloting the first flight of the Lockheed A-12, first of the Blackbird family of Mach 3.0+ aircraft and for his work as chief test pilot for Lockheed Advanced Development Company. He began and ended his flight test career with the same philosophy. He would fly every aircraft he could get into. After Schalk graduated from the United States Air Force Test Pilot School in 1954, he was assigned to Fighter Operations at Edwards Air Force Base, where his teachers included Chuck Yeager and Pete Everest. He was a USAF test pilot from 1954 to 1957. After completing the Phase II tests on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Schalk left the Air Force to join Lockheed Aircraft as a test pilot. In 1959, he joined the Lockheed Advanced Development Company "Skunk Works" and became its chief test pilot. He played a major role in the design of the cockpit of the A-12, YF-12 and SR-71 Blackbird and then flew the first thirteen flights on the A-12, beginning in 1962. He made the first four Blackbird flights exceeding Mach 3.0, with a top speed of Mach 3.287 (2,287 miles per hour). Much of this flight testing was performed at altitudes as high as 90,000 feet. Schalk performed over 100 hours of flight test on the Lockheed Electra, America's first turbo-prop commercial airliner, conducting structural integrity tests. He also tested the performance and stability of the North American F-86H Sabre and the stability and systems on the McDonnel F-101A Voodoo. A 1954 graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School, Schalk has flown over 5,000 hours in 70 different aircraft including the Lockheed Electra, A-11, F-104, F-86, YF-12, F-100, F-101, F-102, RAF Hunter and Javelin Aircraft. Schalk has been honored with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots' Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1964, was named an Eagle by the Flight Test Historical Foundation in 1996 and was selected for the Aerospace Walk of Honor. Lou Schalk was born May 29, 1926 in Alden, Iowa. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Military Arts and Engineering. Lou Schalk lives in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife, Louise. He has two sons and a daughter. Schalk's advice to test pilots of the future is to follow his own philosophy. "Fly all the planes you are permitted to fly," he says. "You will learn from each plane and the test pilot who checks you out."

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