Don Mallick with NASA YF-12 Blackbird
Don Mallick, NASA Test pilot flying the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle which was used as a trainer for the Apollo landings
Donald L. Mallick was the project pilot for the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) flight test program, developing technology to simulate the final phase lunar landing maneuver. Recognized for his flight test work with the LLRV, XB-70A and YF-12 aircraft, he was Dryden's chief pilot and later Aircraft Operations Division Deputy Chief.
"I'm honored to be selected. I have so many good friends that have been inducted and I'm glad to be joining them. I have flown with 15 of the Walk of Honor inductees," he said.
Mallick recalled the feeling of his first flight in the open cockpit of the original Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, saying it was more like flying in a chair than an aircraft. Summing up his career, Mallick said, "I was walking with a lot of giants."
A Navy fighter pilot from 1950-1954, Mallick flew the McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee. After flying as a research pilot at Langley for the NACA and NASA from 1957 to 1963, he joined the NASA pilots at Edwards Air Force Base in 1963, graduating from the USAF Aerospace Pilot School in 1964.
He flew tests on the Lockheed JetStar and conducted flight research on the XB-70A for data intended to support supersonic transport (SST) development. In the 1970s he tested the YF-12 and many light aircraft.
In 30 years of flight test, Mallick flew 11,000 hours in over 125 different aircraft and helicopters. He has flown the XB-70A, LLRV, F-100, TB-58, B-52, F-104, F5D, Convair 990, Aero Commander, Bell 47G, C-47, F8UF, H-19, F-86D, VZ-2, HO3S-1, HR2S, YF-12A and M2-F1 lifting body.
A Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Mallick authored technical papers on handling qualities as well as articles on the LLRV, Lunar Simulation studies and XB-70 and SST Crew Training.
Mallick earned a bachelor of arts degree in aeronautical engineering at the University of Florida in 1957.