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Louis Schalk
Louis Wellington 'Lou' Schalk, Jr (29 May 1926 – 16 August 2002) was an American aviator. As chief test pilot for the Lockheed Corporation's Skunk Works, he was first to fly the Lockheed A-12. A native of Alden, Iowa, Schalk started at West Point in 1944, graduated in 1948, then trained and received his pilot's wings at Nellis Air Force Base. He served with the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing in Germany. Schalk completed flight instructor school at Craig AFB and taught at Laredo Air Force Base in Texas. Schalk graduated first in his class at the Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in 1954, becoming an Air Force test pilot assigned to Fighter Operations, testing such aircraft as the F-100, F-101, and F-104, under the command of Pete Everest and Chuck Yeager. He joined Lockheed in 1957, and in 1959 was chosen by Kelly Johnson as chief test pilot for the Skunk Works. As such, he assisted in the design of the cockpit of the A-12 as well as conducting t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alden, Iowa
Alden is a city in Hardin County, Iowa, United States. The population was 763 at the 2020 census. History Alden was laid out in 1855. It was named for its founder, Henry Alden, a native of Massachusetts. The town was incorporated February 11, 1879. Geography Alden's longitude and latitude coordinates in decimal form are 42.516867, -93.375809. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Demographics 2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 787 people, 338 households, and 214 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 368 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.5% White, 0.5% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population. There were 338 households, of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nellis Air Force Base
Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military Operations Area (MOA) airspace", associated with the nearby Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). The base also has the Combined Air and Space Operations Center-Nellis. History After World War I, Nevada and other western inland states were surveyed by Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Sgt. William B. Whitefield for landing sites, and by "mid-1925 the Air Service possessed information on nearly thirty-five hundred landing places, including more than twenty-eight hundred emergency landing areas, in the United States." The 1929 airfield (dirt runway, water well, and small operations shack) north of Las Vegas—operated by the 1925 Western Air Express for Contract Air Mail (CAM) Route #4, Los Angeles, LA-to-Salt Lake City, SLC—was used by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Military Academy Grounds And Facilities
The United States Military Academy (West Point) and grounds were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and due to the Revolutionary War history and the age and historic significance of the academy itself. The majority of the buildings in the central cadet area are historic. Geography West Point is located approximately north of New York City on the western bank of the Hudson River. The academy's geographic location and geologic formations have directly shaped its history. There wouldn't even be a military garrison at ''West Point'' were it not for the narrow "s-curve" in the river, literally creating a "west point" in the river that was so prominent and important for controlling shipping traffic on the Hudson during colonial times. In addition to the narrow double-90-degree turns, the currents and winds were erratic and unpredictable, making even an unopposed navigation difficult. In addition to the strategic shape of the Hudson River, the Highlands rise up sha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Point Cemetery
West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the eastern United States, on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Revolutionary War soldiers and early West Point inhabitants long before 1817, when it was officially designated as a military cemetery. Northwest of the cadet area, it was known as "German Flats" before its formal designation as the official cemetery in 1817. Until that time several small burial plots scattered in mid-post also served as places of interment. The graves from these plots and the remains subsequently found during building excavations were removed to the new site. An improved road to the cemetery was constructed in 1840, and the caretaker's cottage was erected in 1872. The cemetery is home to several monuments, including the Dade Monument, Cadet Monument, Custer Monument, Wood's Monument, and Margaret Corbin Monument. Notable interments The cemetery inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SR-71
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA. The SR-71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Kelly Johnson (engineer), Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on that of the A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section. Initially, a strategic bomber, bomber variant of the A-12 was requested by Curtis LeMay, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. Mission equipment for the reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors, side looking airborne r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
YF-12
The Lockheed YF-12 was an American Mach number, Mach 3+ capable, high-altitude interceptor aircraft, interceptor prototype, developed and manufactured by American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a potential replacement for the F-106 Delta Dart interceptor for the United States Air Force (USAF). The YF-12 was a twin-seat version of the then-secret single-seat Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); unlike the A-12, it was furnished with the Hughes AN/ASG-18 fire-control radar and could be armed with AIM-47 Falcon (GAR-9) air-to-air missiles. Its maiden flight was on 7 August 1963. Its existence was publicly revealed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on 24 February 1964; this move was to provide plausible deniability for the CIA-operated A-12 fleet, which closely resembled the prototype YF-12. During the 1960s, the YF-12 underwent flight evaluations by the USAF, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelly Johnson (engineer)
Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical and systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. Besides the first production aircraft to exceed Mach 3, he also produced the first fighter capable of Mach 2, the United States' first operational jet fighter, as well as the first fighter to exceed 400 mph, and many other contributions to various aircraft. As a member and first team leader of the Lockheed Skunk Works, Johnson worked for more than four decades and is said to have been an "organizing genius". He played a leading role in the design of over forty aircraft, including several honored with the prestigious Collier Trophy, acquiring a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers in the history of aviation. In 2003, as part of its commemoration of the 100th anniversary of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Yeager
Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in 1941. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942, he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II Army Air Force version of the Army's warrant officer), later achieving most of his aerial victories as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot on the Western Front, where he was credited with shooting down 11.5 enemy aircraft (the half credit is from a second pilot assisting him in a single shootdown). On October 12, 1944, he attained "ace in a day" status, shooting down five enemy aircr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Kendall Everest, Jr
Brigadier General Frank Kendall "Pete" Everest Jr. (August 9, 1920 – October 1, 2004) was a U.S. Air Force officer who is best remembered as an aeroengineer and test pilot during the 1950s. Early years Everest was born August 9, 1920, in Fairmont, West Virginia. After he graduated from Fairmont Senior High School in 1938, he attended Fairmont State College for one year. He later studied Engineering at West Virginia University to prepare himself for a flying career. He graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia, in 1956. Military career He entered United States Army Air Forces aviation cadet pilot training on November 11, 1941, graduated and received a commission on July 3, 1942. Among his classmates in Class 42-F was future ETO ace Robert S. Johnson. After Curtiss P-40 aircraft training, he was sent to North Africa and flew 94 combat missions in Africa, Sicily and Italy with the 314th Fighter Squadron, 324th Fighter Group. During that tour of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-104
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fighter aircraft for the United States Air Force (USAF), it was developed into an all-weather multirole aircraft in the early 1960s and produced by several other nations, seeing widespread service outside the United States. After a series of interviews with Korean War fighter pilots in 1951, Kelly Johnson, then lead designer at Lockheed, opted to reverse the trend of ever-larger and more complex fighters and produce a simple, lightweight aircraft with maximum altitude and climb performance. On 4 March 1954, the Lockheed XF-104 took to the skies for the first time, and on 26 February 1958 the production fighter was activated by the USAF. Only a few months later it was pressed into action during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, when it was de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-101
The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a '' penetration fighter'') for the USAF's Strategic Air Command (SAC), the Voodoo was instead developed as a nuclear-armed fighter-bomber for the USAF's Tactical Air Command (TAC), and as a photo reconnaissance aircraft based on the same airframe. An F-101A set a number of world speed records for jet-powered aircraft, including fastest airspeed, attaining per hour on 12 December 1957. They operated in the reconnaissance role until 1979. Delays in the 1954 interceptor project led to demands for an interim interceptor aircraft design, a role that was eventually won by the B model of the Voodoo. This required extensive modifications to add a large radar to the nose of the aircraft, a second crew member to operate it, and a new weapons bay u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight. The F100 was designed by North American Aviation as a higher-performance follow-on to the F-86 Sabre air-superiority fighter. Adapted as a fighter-bomber, the F-100 was superseded by the high-speed Republic F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions over North Vietnam. The F100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the air force's primary close air-support jet until being replaced by the more efficient subsonic LTV A-7 Corsair II. The F100 also served in other NATO air forces and with other U.S. allies. In its later life, it was often referred to as the "Hun", a shortened version of "one hundred". Design and development In January 1951, North A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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