Zeek

It might add to much weight to the plane or take up to much needed room . I still like the SR-71 Black Bird better. If you ever get a chance to see one, do it . The bird is flat out awesome !!!!

bob

That's been going on for decades. When Boeing first flew the 747, they were using an old USAF base in Salina, Kansas to train the pilots in landing without the on-board computer. Most of the pilots couldn't do it without blowing tires.

zeek,

the U2 literally flies on the edge of the atmosphere. every ounce is critical to get that hi and stay.
now granted the pilot should be able to use his iphone and get the same info.
there is a vidoe of James May taking a U2 flight and it is amazing.
http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/

enjoy!!

That was fantastic, OMG really people. Thanks.

I second that. Thank you OMG...

And what May says at the end of the video rings so true, that if every person could see what he had just seen we all would have a very different attitude toward the planet we live on and our activities on that planet. Breathtaking!!

High aspect ratio wing makes the Dragon Lady very prone to ground effect therefor difficult to land. The U2 was built to be a glider at EXTREME altitudes. Crosswinds and turbulence on landing can really throw off any pilot. Low weight is a must because of rarefied air. One wish, to be in one of them just once in my life.

Kinda makes you wonder why we are spending all this money when we could be getting the same results retro fitting old weapons platforms are using remotes.

Too bad Republicans can't figure out we can afford Universal Healthcare and stop stripping retirement plans from people who've earned them by simply not spending as much as the entire world spends on defense.

Vote Dem in 2012!! Let's try saving money instead of spending it for a few more presidential cycles and see where that gets us.

Typical Liberal. Can use any story to segway into Republican bashing.

This article is pretty much garbage. The U-2 has always required a "chase car" to assist it when landing. This is because the U-2 has only centerline landing gear and requires that a crewman meet the aircraft on the runway and attach "pogo sticks" (long posts with small wheels at the end) to the wingtips prior to taxiing. A blue pickup truck will do just fine. There is simple no meed for a "muscle car." This is how the Pentagon wastes the military budget.

In fact, just the opposite. Really good U-2 pilots love to balance the U-2 on the air currents rising off the tarmac and allow the crew chief to leisurely stroll to the wingtips to attack the pogo sticks. It's a skill akin to balancing a bicycle while standing still. And a perfectly good way to "show off" without breaking any rules.

The problem with landing a U-2 is twofold: 1) The low wing and high angle of attack severely limits the pilot's visability. And it is necessary to flare out as close to the runway as possible to prevent damage to the main landing gear. Because it only has centerline landing gear, the landing weight is very poorly distributed. But even more is 2) "ground effect." When any aircraft is landing, a hair less than one wingspan above the runway, an aircraft will begin to "float." The more efficient the wing, the longer the aircraft will float. For a U-2, ground effect starts at about 60+ feet above the ground.

There is no need for a "muscle car" to do this job. An old Air Force pickup truck has always just done fine. Saying that it requires a muscle car to chase an aircraft that is landing at less than 50 knots is simply absurd. I have watched literally hundreds of U-2's take off and land. Their takeoff speed is less than 65 knots and their landing speed considerably less than that.

While the chase car is calling out the altitude, the pilot has instrumentation that tells him the same thing. What the chase car is alert for is any increase in altitude or cessation of the landing flare. So what they are really "chasing" is to be sure that when there is no longer enough runway left for the aircraft to land safely, that the pilot is notified so he can quickly go around.

There are only two tricks to flying a U-2 --- not crashing and landing. The U-2 is incredibly difficult to fly at altitude because its Q-corner is so close. There is less than 10 knots difference between a U-2's cruise and stall speeds. And getting the puppy to "settle down" is a nightmare. The instant a U-2 drops below 60 feet, it starts to float. Flaps and spoilers are necessary to try to kill as much airspeed as possible, but all it takes is ine gust of wind and the thing will start flying again. On a hot day it can be close to impossible to get the baby to stay on the ground.

The soldier boys just want to have an excuse to drive a fast car, on the government's tab.

Looks like the coolest job in the military- sign me up!

Chris, I'm sure you have first-hand knowledge, but from what I've read, the car has to chase at 120-140 mph.

Wow - we are still flying U-2s. What's next? Renovate a few B-29s?

Some of the surveillance satellites can detect the temperature of a warm piece of metal (about a square foot area from above) to within 2-degrees-F. The planes have more flexibility with time of observation, but the pictures can't be too much better.

These aren't the original U-2s that were used in the 50's. These are much newer & much larger: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=129. When I was stationed in England ('84-'87) they converted from El Camino's to Ford Mustangs for the chase cars. Originally the El Camino's had a wing cradle in the back that was used when landing.

Also keep in mind these things are essentially very large, powered gliders. It's not quite the same as landing other aircraft.

way to delight in the joblessness of thousands of Americans, jerksmith.

Pontiacs were awesome vehicles. Why they sh*tcanned them instead of Buick I'll never know...

Pontiac's were awesome vehicles. I would never buy a Buick but the Chinese like them. I'm pretty sure I remember reading that Buick is GM leading seller in China. That tell you anything? Evidently they can't handle performance over there.

"so the us kept the U-2 and dropped Pontiac... FU GM"

The Treasury Dept's "Automotive Task Force" literally told GM to get rid of Pontiac (and Saturn) as part of the conditions for the bailout. Blame GM management for putting the company in the position to have them taken over by the government. As for keeping Buick, it's one of the leading brands in China. They sell more Buicks in China than they do here.

I see a Buick Rendezvous and think: "that's one slightly less ugly step-sibling of Pontiac Aztec"

numbersdude

while you have breaking news that N. Korea agrees to halt its uranium enrichment program and missile test..you put up an article on how the U.S. Spies on them...real smart...SMH!

LOL

I'm assuming you're trolling, but if not and you actually believe MSNBC has disclosed anything regarding US surveillance techniques that North Korea is not already intimately aware of, then "SMH" indeed.

I'm betting we're not crossing the border. You can see a whole lot from 70,000 feet even if you stay on your own side of the border. They have oblique cameras that can take pictures to the side while the plane parallels the border; standard cold war technique. Keep in mind that North Korea is a country that shells their neighbor's islands when a fishing boat strays into what they claim as territorial waters; they'd throw a fit if US military planes were overflying them.

Mathuin,

Thanks for the reminder about the U-2 shoot down. Nobody ever shot down the SR-71 Blackbird - it flies much higher and faster than the U-2. The forced retirement of the Blackbird, allegedly because satellites were better and cheaper, is still one of the most dubious decisions made by the Air Force. One wonders how much money the satellite manufacturers contributed to make sure the Blackbird was grounded.

It's much cheaper to take satellite pictures every day than to fly SR-71 that often. Also, a SR-71 will take much narrower band of images, because it flies on much lower altitude.

Agreed, Tim. I worked at an Army Intelligence base near Osan, and had the opportunity to see a few U2 land and take off from there. That is the most graceful plane I ever saw take off. Landing was not so graceful though. The thing I remember most is how little runway it needed to take off, then how it went almost 90 degrees straight up, those powerful engines making the most distinctive sound as it did.

The Pontiac G8 is basically the Holden Commodore. The same vehicle that is now the Chevrolet Caprice PPV police car. It may be a 4 door sedan but being rear wheel drive and having a V8 with 355 horsepower compares it favorably to the horsepower of yesterday's muscle cars. And it probably gets double or almost triple the gas mileage of a 1970 muscle car. Sure they could buy Dodge Challenger SRT 8's with 470 horsepower but that really isn't needed for this role. A 4 door sedan probably has better visibility than a 2 door anyway.

They probably picked them up as dealer surplus, since Pontiac is dead.

polfnikufesin!!

WOW! The military establishment knows jack $hit, and you know all!

Wonder why they didn't contact you first, before making expensive, and dumb buying decisions that we, as tax payers, pay for??

We have to, because I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

yuk yuk yuk

(I suffered a heart attack and stroke following being hit by a car in 8th grade while riding my bicycle on Piedmont RD., which unfortunately went undiagnosed at the time (because of limited family finances). I was delivering newspapers after school in Atlanta, GA in the 8th grade at the time, in order to help my family (7 siblings) make ends meet financially. Thank God I moved back to Jensen Beach, FL by the middle of the 9th grade. I spent the much of my spare time (I both worked AND went to school part time/full time the last three years of H.S., the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade) running on the roads and beach (and MCHS parking lot) in Jensen Beach / Stuart area while desperately trying to overcome the effects of my heart attack and stroke. But I eventually I ended up on the top "Go Team" in U.S. Special Forces !971 - 1972 in the U.S. Army thanks to all of this exercise, after spending summer quarter at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA. in 1969.) (I am now 60 years old.) - RC

(Please understand that I have consciously known ever since the early 1960s (1961, 4th grade, N. Palm Beach, FL) that the entire human world potentially hinged upon my future survival. I initially found this out by eavesdropping on a loud argument which my grandparents were having at the time that my grandfather was retiring from the Air Force (1956). My grandmother had always wanted to travel the world when my grandfather finally retired, but my grandfather insisted upon them taking us grandchildren back in again, because my father's marriage was already falling apart once again, which it eventually did for 4 or 5 times before my father and step mother were finally divorced for the last time after 4 marriages. (Go figure!) (This all will eventually be important for World History ya'll, TRULY sorry about that.)) - RC

((Trust me, you all don't even want to go there, been there & done that (BTDT), know what I mean?)) - RC