Lockheed U-2 Flight - 70,000ft Altitude

Video from the channel whitemambafive about Lockheed U-2, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:01. Language: English. Video type: Onboard.

Excerpt from a television program in which host May flies as a passenger in a Lockheed U-2 alongside a pilot with the rank of major. It covers the complete flight, from taxiing and take-off up to about 70,000 feet, and the return to landing. Music has been added to the cabin sound.

During the climb, the occupants note that they have passed the altitude of Everest and then 60,000 feet. At that altitude, they explain, body fluids would boil almost instantly outside the cabin. From above, they see an airliner far below them. Both wear a helmet and oxygen gear, and mid-flight they eat tube food, peach in the host's case. Around 70,000 feet the sky looks dark and the curvature of the horizon is visible. It is noted that 95% of the atmosphere's mass already lies below them, and the pilot confirms that at that moment only the International Space Station's crew is higher. On the approach, the landing configuration and the deceleration down to 76 knots are reviewed.

The host recalls that in 1955 that altitude would have been considered the beginning of space. He also compares the view from about 13 miles up with that of the Apollo astronauts, who saw the Earth from nearly a quarter of a million miles away.