Pete McCluskey.
Lifetime Supporter
James May takes a trip to the fringes of space in a U2 Spy plane.
Breathtaking spy plane footage. [VIDEO]
Breathtaking spy plane footage. [VIDEO]
Spectacular.
- Thread starter Pete
- Start date
That is beautiful.
I was shocked to see that the pilot of the U2 (Maj John Cabigas) was once one of my instructor pilots when I went to my initial Air Force pilot training back in 1989. Small world!
Amazingly, I recognized his voice first, and I haven't seen him since 1991! I then went back and watched more closely, and sure enough, there he was...
Amazingly, I recognized his voice first, and I haven't seen him since 1991! I then went back and watched more closely, and sure enough, there he was...
Thanks,
It's nice to know that we can still do somethings right!!
Do all you guys from over the pond get to watch much stuff like this and Top Gear from over here. How does it translate over there?
Oops, sorry for the thread drift...
Graham.
Terry Oxandale
Skinny Man
Amazing! To see it's rate of climb through FL50 was amazing. I assumed the guy with the glasses was the passenger, so what are the eye requirements for these pilots? I've some amount of knowledge of gas turbines and aeronautics, but can help but wonder how enough lift and thrust are created at that altitude, and how small the flight envelope is at that point.
Pat Buckley
GT40s Supporter
A few years ago a group of friends (all Cobra owners) and I were fortunate enough to be invited to Beale AFB to take a close up look at the U2 and visit the base.
We were invited to ride along in the chase car (Mustangs if I recall correctly) as the U2 came in for a landing - it was pretty exciting looking up and back while driving down the runway and seeing the big black glider come in over the top of us.
Pilots and chase car drivers take turns driving and flying. One pilot told of how he could, in a stiff wind, "fly" the plane out to the runway from the hangar area.
Prior to landing they need to burn off fuel from each tank so the planes wings stall at the same time in order to get it on the ground without mishap. The chase cars are needed to call out how many feet remain before touchdown because a rough landing can break the plane - not something that looks good on a resume, I would assume.
If I remember right, the flight envelope was something like 10 knots.....
We were invited to ride along in the chase car (Mustangs if I recall correctly) as the U2 came in for a landing - it was pretty exciting looking up and back while driving down the runway and seeing the big black glider come in over the top of us.
Pilots and chase car drivers take turns driving and flying. One pilot told of how he could, in a stiff wind, "fly" the plane out to the runway from the hangar area.
Prior to landing they need to burn off fuel from each tank so the planes wings stall at the same time in order to get it on the ground without mishap. The chase cars are needed to call out how many feet remain before touchdown because a rough landing can break the plane - not something that looks good on a resume, I would assume.
If I remember right, the flight envelope was something like 10 knots.....
Jack Houpe
GT40s Supporter
You fly the biggest, he's now flying one of the highest. So when are you going to turn the tides?
Pete that was great. Thanks
At operational altitudes (up the top) the difference between VNE (usually the structural maximum speed limit) and stall is about 10 knots.
I believe you're right, the machine is flown onto the runway with external help due to the undercarriage layout being vulnerable to a hard landing, along with the airframe being delicate without the rigidity provided by it's fuel load.
They're a phenominally impressive beast, more so in my view because of the age of the concept, as well as the existing airframes. The Blackbird is the pin up of the genre, but the U2 is the one that's still up there.:thumbsup:
wonderful pete!
Is that an U2 or a Tr-1A?
Is that an U2 or a Tr-1A?
I remember on one of my trips flying between so CA and so OR, before the somewhat permanent TFR around Beale, I flew over at around 8500 feet and looked down to see a U2 rolling out after landing...I thought it was pretty cool. I can't get that close anymore...
TR-1A is a single-seater. Two-seat variants (from oldest to newest) would be: U2-B, U2-D, U2-CT, U2-RT, TR-1B, and TU-2S. I don't know which the plane in the video was, but I suspect either TR-1B or TU-2S.
