U-2 Spy Plane
The U-2 Dragon Lady was a single-engine, spy plane used by the US Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War. It was designed by American engineer Clarence Johnson and manufactured by Lockheed. The U-2 made its first flight on August 1, 1955, at the Groom Lake test site (Area 51), entering service in 1957. Lockheed built a total of 86 U-2 aircraft, of which only 25 are still active. Because of the high operating altitude, the pilot had to wear the equivalent of a space suit. The suit delivered the pilot’s oxygen supply and emergency protection in case cabin pressure was lost at high altitude.
The U-2 was a high-altitude, reconnaissance, sailplane-winged aircraft with a lift-to-drag ratio estimated in the high 20s and an operational ceiling of 70,000 feet (21,000 m). Early U-2 variants were powered by Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines, but the U-2C, the U-2S, and TR-1A variants used the more powerful Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojet and the General Electric F118-101 turbofan. Optics for a large-format camera were developed to be used in the U-2. These new cameras had a resolution of 2.5 feet (76 cm) from an altitude of 60,000 feet (18,000 m). Balancing was so critical on the U-2 that the camera had to use a split film, with reels on one side feeding forward while those on the other side feed backward, thus maintaining a balanced weight distribution through the whole flight.
The U-2 Dragon Lady came to public attention when CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet territory on May 1, 1960, causing the U-2 incident. On October 14, 1962, a U-2 from the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, based at Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio, Texas, and piloted by Major Richard S. Heyser, photographed the Soviet military installing nuclear warhead missiles in Cuba, precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis. Despite its high-altitude capability, the U-2 was vulnerable to the Soviet SAM earth-to-air missiles. That is the reason it was partially replaced by the supersonic SR-71 aircraft.
Specifications for the Lockheed U-2
Engine: one General Electric F118-101 turbofan.
Maximum speed: 500 mph (805 km/h).
Service ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,300 m).
Range: 6,405 mi (10,300 km).
Length: 63 ft (19.2 m).
Wingspan: 103 ft (31.4 m).
Crew: One
U-2 Spy Plane (Video)
[...] 1, 1960, in the Soviet Union, during the Cold War, under the Eisenhower Administration, when a US U-2 spy aircraft, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, was shot down deep within Soviet territory. A the Soviet [...]