Delmar Schulte

Del made 2 entries in my log book. First, 1.5 hours aerobatic instruction in a T-34A. The first maneuver, a spin to the right, he described as "fly straight and level, power off, when the nose drops, full right rudder, 3 turns and recover." The next thing he says to me is "if you want to stop spinning to the left, take your foot off the pedal." I didn't even know we we had stopped spinning to the right and were now spinning to the left. Even though he was sitting behind me, I know he was smiling. He always smiled. Second entry, my first hour of dual in a multi-engine plane. I don't remember a thing about the flight, but I do remember him saying, as we were heading towards the dump after landing, "you're going to have to jump on the brakes." He had us making the last turn at the end of the runway before I knew it. Del was the nicest guy, and the best pilot in the world.

I had the pleasure of working with Del in Air Operations Sacramento Headquarters, such a great personality and confident knowledgeable person! Will never forget him. RIP Del!

This is my flying story with my Uncle Todd. I was 22 and Todd took Bill (Pix's second husband), myself and Brian (fiance at the time) up in the plane pictured here. We must have flown out of the airport in Auburn, CA because it wasn't long and Todd was saying he could fly us over our house in Newcastle at the time. I thought that was pretty cool and I promptly pulled out my camera to get some shots of it. Little did I know that looking through a camera lens while flying like that can induce motion sickness. And that's exactly what it did for me. So I put the camera down and focused on keeping it together for the rest of the flight. I don't really remember anything else about the flight itself. When we landed and I had to take several minutes to collect myself before I could get in the car or anything else, it was mentioned to Todd that I was feeling motion sick and that I had been taking photos in the plane. He made some kind of comment about how 'oh yeah, that can happen when looking through a camera lens'. It was kind of a thanks for telling me moment.
But I did get some pretty cool photos of the house. So cool that my mom blew one up to 8x10 and it hung on the wall for the rest of the time they lived there.

My better ride memories with my Uncle Todd were when I was younger and he would take me for a ride on his motorcycle. Honda Gold Wing I'm pretty sure. I always enjoyed those rides with my uncle.

Del, thanks for being my friend and mentor!

In high school my second dad was Tod.

He was the cool dad of my dads. My dad would have admitted the same.

Tod flew planes and laughed a lot.

One time he asked if I wanted to go up in his plane and I, having never been on a commercial flight up to that time in my life, jumped at the opportunity.

He had a Pitts or a Spitts or some name like that which just means a dinky little plane that did "tricks".

Mike let me take the first flight and at first Tod took it easy on me. Some circles and then a roll. "Howya doing back there?" I mumbled a "Great." We both knew I was lying.

Then he did a bunch of stuff. As if a young teenage boy's "great" was a permission slip to go insane.

I don't remember much. A bunch of G-forces and being slammed into the side of the plane and wishing that the ride was over.

But then he went down low and swooped up. Straight up. And we went straight up for a long time. Until we ran out of fuel.

Ok, we didn't, but he cut off the engine, so for a moment I thought that because suddenly it was silent and our assent slowed.

And with no engine, we started falling. Backwards. Tail first.

And that's when I traded "cool dad" for "crazy cool dad."

After falling backward for a while he turned the plane to the left until we were pointing down and the engine roared to life.

It was amazing to me to see his absolute mastery of the aircraft. Years later, I think back to that Hammer Head and his control over air and machine.

After we landed, I grinned and walked a crooked line to the bathroom to "wash my face".

After Tod was done inspecting his plane he came over to me and put an arm around me and grinned into my face and asked, "How ya doin?"

This time, I was surprised to hear myself saying with utmost sincerity, "That was the greatest ride of my life."

And it still is.

Thanks Tod. I miss you and so does the world.

Thank You Del,Just the mention of your name got me out of traffic citations two different times,and when I told you about those two times,you just giggled and smiled and that's good Scotty,you always called me Scotty,see you on the other side.

The first time I met Del I knew he was a special human. Little did I know how special he truly was. The short time in my life that I got to spend with him from fixing the washing machine, taking the shower apart so Dianne could eventually take a shower on her own after she got sick. We had so much fun and memories made that I will cherish forever. Del had the biggest heart and was a bit of a jokester! Del you have a special place in my heart and I know you and Dianne are together again. It's not good bye it's until we see each other again.

For those that don't know me, I am one of Todd's nieces. My mom was Todd's youngest sister. I knew Uncle Todd my entire life.

These photos were from 3 years ago - April 30, 2022. We were on a trip through Cali and were spending the day in Sacramento. Todd came down for the day and enjoyed the railroad museum with us. Dianne was unable to join him that day as she was "always busy with something" I think is the way Uncle Todd put it. But we had a lovely visit with him that day including a nice ride on the train with him. I don't even remember most of what we talked about but to my mind that's not the important part of the memory. The important part was just the feeling of getting to spend some quality time with him. Larger family gatherings can be overwhelming and hard to really get quality time, but this was definitely a quality memory.

This was the last photo I ever got with him, but not quite the last time I ever saw him. Just this past Sept 2024, on a trip up through CA, OR, and WA, we got to stop in with Todd & Dianne for a couple hours one afternoon. We had nice conversation with both of them as well as Mike & Margaret and their family. But it was bittersweet leaving that day because we could see how the illness was affecting Dianne and I was saddened because I knew it would be the last time I would see her.

I had no clue that it would also be the last time I saw my Uncle Todd.

Love and Peace to both of you.

What a fabulous life and a stellar tribute to one who was, undoubtedly, a character. I only wish I had known the man in person. My condolences to the family, and if you need help with that Velveeta or Dr. Pepper just call.

The family has asked that, in lieu of donations, you take a moment to write up a story about Del and you, and either post it here, bring it to the 5/17 hangar party at Benton, or send it to the family. Thank you all!