SCHALK, TEST PILOT OF FIRST A-12, DIES FORMER EDWARDS, LOCKHEED AVIATOR FELLED BY LEUKEMIA.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Retired test pilot Lou Schalk, who 40 years ago made the first flight in the top-secret A-12 Blackbird spy plane, died Friday of leukemia. He was 76.

Schalk, a former Edwards Air Force Base and Lockheed test pilot who was honored in 1999 with an induction into Lancaster's Aerospace Walk of Honor, died in a hospice in Arlington, Va.

``He was an individual new test pilots could look up to,'' said state Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, R-Palmdale, a former Edwards test pilot. ``He was an exceptional test pilot. He reached the pinnacle for a test pilot by flying an airplane that was beyond its years.''

Schalk, who was born in Alden, Iowa, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1948 with a bachelor of science degree in military arts and engineering. Schalk received his pilot training at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and was assigned to a fighter bomber wing in Germany.

In 1954, Schalk attended the Test Pilot School at Edwards and graduated at the top of his class. Schalk served as a test pilot at Edwards for three years, testing such aircraft as the F-100, F-101 and F-104 fighter jets.

In 1957, he joined Lockheed Aircraft as an engineering test pilot. In 1959, he was selected as chief test pilot for Kelly Johnson's famed ``Skunk Works.'' Schalk is credited with a major role in designing the cockpit of the A-12, YF-12 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes.

``Lockheed Martin expresses sincere sympathy to Lou's family and friends,'' said Rick Baker, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. ``He was key to the successful first flight of the A-12 and an important part of Lockheed Martin's history.''

In April 1962 in Nevada, Schalk made the first flight of the A-12 Blackbird, a flight that nearly ended in disaster because an improper loading of fuel had altered the aircraft's center of gravity. Schalk was able to safely set the wobbling aircraft back down.

``I've always said a lesser pilot would have been killed,'' Schalk said in a 1992 interview with the Daily News.

Five days after that, an official first flight was held for CIA and Air Force officers. That flight went off without a problem.

Schalk would take the aircraft on its first supersonic flight eight days later. In addition to piloting the first A-12 flight, Schalk would also later fly the first four Mach 3 flights of the SR-71 Blackbird, hitting a top speed of 2,287 mph.

Schalk flew more than 70 different aircraft and logged more than 5,000 hours of flight time.

In addition to his 1999 induction into the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor, Schalk was the winner of the 1964 Society of Experimental Test Pilots Iven C. Kincheloe Award.

Schalk is survived by his wife, Louise Cochran Schalk; daughter, Nancie Schalk Johnson; and sons, Thomas Schalk and Louis Schalk. Schalk is also survived by his sister, Barbara Schalk Thomas, and his brother, Thomas Schalk.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made in Schalk's name to the National Air & Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, PO Box 23197, Washington, DC 20026.