This morning Connie sent an email about the U-2 Spy Plane. It is a wonderful video that takes you too 70,000 feet and you fly above the clouds inside the U-2.. Watching the video was my first flight inside of the U-2 and actually I was amazed that it is still flying and that it is still flying spy missions.
I was aware of the U-2 program way back in the early 60's when it first used to fly over Russia. I belonged to the Air force and Air Intelligence was my specialty. However, I was only the flunky that filed the papers and emptied the waste baskets.
The U-2 used to take off from Barksdale AFB and I was privileged to see it take off on a few occasions. The U-2 was not part of the program that I was involved with but when the Russians shot the U-2 and Gary Powers down I was able to read all of the inside info on the flight.
Normally the U-2 flew way above the altitude the Russians were able to get to but they knew it was there and tried everything in their power to shoot it down. They were not able to even come close until the plane had an engine burn-out and Powers couldn't get it restarted. When if dropped to 30,000 feet the Russians were waiting and shot it down.
Theoretically Powers was supposed to take the "off" pill but he opted to live and bailed out. His capture caused an international incident at the time.
When you watch the video notice that the plane is not marked in any way with the normal markings of a US war plane. The pilot and the passenger have some kind of US patches pinned to their left shoulders. They are not sewn on. I assume they were there only for the publicity.
The reason the plane is not marked is that if it should crash in "enemy" territory the US can claim that it "knows nothing".
One final note. The U-2 that I saw taking off would only hold one pilot. After it left the run way it would begin a vertical flight that would take out of sight with in seconds. It is basically a glider plane built around a huge jet engine.
To view the video go to the following link:
http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/
Stan this is so cool......I'm sending it on to my brother, he's the one that sent it to me with the note, "Now I know what I want for Christmas".
ReplyDeleteI re-read this post and found a lot of typos. I need to edit better. I did clean up the typos and if you haven't sent it to your bro yet, please send the edited version. If you already sent it, please apologize for my lousy editing.
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