S.L 'Lew' Wallick 1924-2009

Lew Wallick grew up on a Kansas farm with his parents and four siblings. At 17, he joined the Naval Aviation Cadet program. He was supposed to be part of the invasion of Japan in World War II, but then the United States dropped the atomic bombs in Japan, and he never saw combat.After the war, Wallick earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University and soon went to work at Boeing, first in Wichita and then in Seattle. He spent 35 years with the company, retiring in 1986 as Chief Test Pilot and Director of Flight Test.Along with flying the first 727, he was pilot or co-pilot on the first flights of the Boeing 737, 747SP, 757, 767 and more.