Frank Tipton Birk; Test Pilot for Stealth Bomber

Frank Tipton Birk, 46, test pilot who commanded the B-2 Stealth bomber test program at Edwards Air Force Base. Birk, who retired from the Air Force as a colonel last May, was chief test pilot, with more than 200 hours in the B-2, and flew the first transcontinental flight of the bomber for congressional inspection. As a combat pilot in Vietnam, Birk logged about 600 hours flying the B-1 bomber, earning two Silver Stars, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 27 Air Medals and the Purple Heart. In his 25 years as a pilot, Birk logged more than 7,200 hours of flight in 65 aircraft. He held master’s degrees in national security and mechanical engineering. In June, Birk became a senior engineering test pilot for Rockwell International Corp. and was testing the company’s Ranger 2000 jet when it crashed in Germany. On Monday in Manching, Germany, of crash injuries.