13 Miles High - as seen from a U-2

[B. W.]

For those of you knowing about the U-2 spy plane, here is a film clip from the cockpit at 13 miles up...

I was sent the email below and thought you all would like this. My uncle was a U-2 pilot. 1959-1960 before he was shot down and spent about two years in a Russian Prison...

Enjoy!

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Take a trip in the U-2 spy plane-AWESOME VIDEO! See Link below..

http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/

You can see why the U-2 is considered the most difficult plane in the world to fly. Each pilot has a co-pilot, who chases the plane on the runway in a sports car. Most of the cars are either Pontiac GTO's or Chevrolet Camero's - the Air Force buys American.

The chase cars talk the pilot down as he lands on bicycle-style landing gear. In that spacesuit, the pilot in the plane simply cannot get a good view of the runway.

Upon takeoff, the wings on this plane, which extend 103 feet from tip to tip, literally flap. To stabilize the wings on the runway, two pogo sticks on wheels prop up the ends of the wings. As the plane flies away, the pogo sticks drop off.

The plane climbs at an amazing rate of nearly 10,000 feet a minute. Within about four minutes, I was at 40,000 feet, higher than any commercial airplane. Wkept going up to 13 miles above Earth's surface.

You get an incredible sensation up there. As you look out the windows, it feels like you're floating, it feels like you're not moving, but you're actually going 500 mph.

The U-2 was built to go higher than any other aircraft. In fact, today, more 50 years since it went into production, the U-2 flies higher than any aircraft in the world with the exception of the space shuttle. It is flying more missions and longer missions than ever before -nearly 70 missions a month over Iraq and Afghanistan, an operational tempo that is unequaled in history.

The pilots fly for 11 hours at a time, sometimes more than 11 hours up there alone. By flying so high, the U-2 has the capability of doing reconnaissance over a country without actually violating its airspace. It can look off to the side, peering 300 miles or more inside a country without actually flying over it.

It can "see" in the dark and through clouds. It can also "hear," intercepting conversations 14 miles below. The U-2, an incredible piece of history and also a current piece of high technology, is at the center of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Enjoy the ride! Lockheed U-2.

Take A Ride in a Spy Plane, Click the link below. Go to the lower right corner of the screen and click the icon immediately to the left of the volume control to bring up the full screen.

http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/

[Ngakunui]

If this is a U-2 spy plane, what do the AC/DC spy planes look like?

[Byblos]

If this is a U-2 spy plane, what do the AC/DC spy planes look like?

They look like hell's bells.

[WConn]

I fly gliders and this is essentially a big, powered glider. I noted at about 7:58 that he pulled on what appeared to be spoilers which are common on gliders. The landing was not a thing of beauty, he dropped it in a bit and did what glider pilots call a tail strike, but considering the difficulty of visual reference and the need for a pilot in a chase care to aid in the landing it was outstanding. Excellent video, I enjoyed it very much.