Lockheed U-2: The High-Altitude Spy Plane That Changed Intelligence
Video from the channel Retro Transport about Lockheed U-2, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 4:46. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
Brief piece on the history of the Lockheed U-2, nicknamed Dragon Lady. It was developed from 1954 by Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works division so the CIA would have an aircraft capable of flying above Soviet air defences. The prototype flew on 1 August 1955 at Area 51.
The video describes its very long wings, the bicycle landing gear with auxiliary wheels that drop away on take-off, the pressure suits and the narrow margin between maximum speed and stall speed, known as the "coffin corner". It recalls the shooting down of Francis Gary Powers by an SA-2 missile on 1 May 1960 and his exchange for Rudolf Abel in 1962.
It ends with the U-2S version, introduced in 1994, its modern sensors and the comparison with the RQ-4 Global Hawk.