Lockheed U-2 | Simple plane - crazy technology (part 1)

Video from the channel Skyships Eng about Lockheed U-2, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 20:26. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

First part of an English-language documentary about the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, the Cold War's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. It covers its origins, its design and how demanding it is to fly, leaving operational missions for a second installment.

After the Second World War, the United States spied on the Soviet Union with adapted bombers: first versions of the B-29, then RB-36s derived from the Convair B-36, and later the jet-powered RB-47s. Soviet MiG-15, MiG-17 and MiG-19 fighters made these missions increasingly risky. That gave rise to the idea of a dedicated reconnaissance aircraft whose protection would be altitude itself. Competing designs included Martin's RB-57, derived from the Canberra, Fairchild's M-195 and Bell's X-16. Lockheed proposed the CL-282, almost a powered glider, developed at Skunk Works under the direction of Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. After lengthy debate, the project was split between the CIA (Aquatone program) and the Air Force (Oilstone). In 1955 Lockheed received the contract to deliver 20 aircraft before the end of 1956, with a requirement to fly at 70,000 feet, about 21.3 km. To conceal its purpose it was given the letter U, for "utility," rather than R for reconnaissance.

The U-2 is a straight-wing, long-span monoplane: over 24 m on the U-2A, which eventually grew to 31 m. Johnson started from the XF-104 prototype, with its narrow fuselage and single jet engine, but moved the fuel into the wings and pressurized the camera bay. The cockpit maintains a cabin pressure equivalent to about 8.5 km altitude, so pilots fly in pressure suits. The original engine was a Pratt & Whitney J57 without afterburner, producing about 46 kN, followed by the J75 and the General Electric F118, at 81 kN. The aircraft required the special JPTS fuel, expensive and scarce, until an alternative based on JP-8 with additives was developed. It uses bicycle-type landing gear with auxiliary "pogo" wheels, which detach on takeoff, and titanium skids at the wingtips. The first pilots formally left the Air Force and were paid by the CIA. They trained at Area 51 (Watertown, Nevada), and the video attributes many of the UFO sightings reported there in the 1950s to the U-2. Its first flight, in August 1955, was accidental: the aircraft lifted off during a taxi test at about 70 knots. The Air Force then ordered 31 units. The video also describes the narrow margin between maximum and minimum speed, a cruise speed of about 410 knots, and missions lasting 8 to 10 hours. To land, a chase car with another pilot guides it from the runway.