Lockheed U-2 Aircraft

DXP55 said:
You are talking about Gary Powers - the USA thought Russia didn't have a missile that could go that high and yes they shot it down.

U2 was redundant for flights over Russia then.
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http://www.theguardian.com/film/201...anks-steven-spielberg-cold-war-gary-powers-u2
 
DXP55 said:
You are talking about Gary Powers - the USA thought Russia didn't have a missile that could go that high and yes they shot it down.

U2 was redundant for flights over Russia then.
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Which was more than likely the real catalyst for the US to perfect the Corona orbital surveillance system as up to that point it had been pretty disastrous.
 
Apparently the US keeps some operational.

Although satellites have largely taken over they take time to re-task and move. The U2 can be made ready very quickly.

Not sure if any have seen any action however.
 
ubersonic said:
So Americans building missile silos in Turkey thus giving them the ability to glass Moscow before they could even launch a response had nothing to do with it? :P
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But Krushchev didn't kick off about them, it was the US naval blockade around Cuba after detection of the launch site construction that brought the World to the brink. In this period the US was far more aggressive, paranoid and belligerent than Krushchev's USSR was, much to the annoyance of old school Stalinists in the Kremlin who eventually forced him out in favour of the much more hard-line Brezhnev who we can probably be pretty thankful wasn't in power during the crisis :eek:
 
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Speaking of the SR71 everytime the SR71 gets mentioned on Reddit this story gets posted and it never gets old to read :D

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it.

I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury.

Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground."
Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the " Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that, and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.

Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. "I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed." Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check". Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground."
And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn.

Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?" There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. "Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground."

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money."
For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with, "Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one."

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.
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Werewolf said:
One of the saddest things about the improvement in orbital tech, and the end of the cold was is that we no longer need the likes of the u2 to get the images, and there is no longer the push of that sort of tech at the same rate there was :(

It's sad to think that we've basically given up on anything other than LEO for manned missions, and we've effectively dropped back about 30-50 years on some aspects of aircraft flight.

There is/was something awe inspiring about the likes of the strategic reconnaissance and other state of the art aircraft designed around that era, the U2, SR1, Vulcan, Concorde and Shuttle, now we don't seem to have anything that is so oddly beautiful and powerful looking as aircraft.
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Lots to look forward to though in the coming decade though.
Skylon, Escape Dynamics (which is a ground based microwave powered space plane, initially will be cargo), Space Launch System (although I doubt it'll fly more than a few times) and what ever SoaceX do to prepare for Mars, oh and Mastons reusable rockets.
 
Glaucus said:
Lots to look forward to though in the coming decade though.
Skylon, Escape Dynamics (which is a ground based microwave powered space plane, initially will be cargo), Space Launch System (although I doubt it'll fly more than a few times) and what ever SoaceX do to prepare for Mars, oh and Mastons reusable rockets.
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Aye, it just seems that we basically stagnated for a number of years, largely due to politicians mucking around (I read somewhere that NASA for example is basically operating at the same level of funding now as 30 years ago, without any allowance for inflation).

I can't help but look back at the various projects that were cancelled due to lack of funding or politicians deciding it was more important to win political points and throw half completed projects down the drain to try and win some votes from the "We never went to the moon" crowd.
 
There's lots of reason.
Political will
Funding
Safety

Then in NASA case, Apollo was a jobs program for the south.
Unfortunately this now means they have to use these suppliers and old equipment which is really hamstringing they're rocket and human missions. as it's vastly over priced and uneffecient.
They were told they had to use the Space shuttles main engines, solid boosters etc for SLS, it's not the rocket engineers or scientists want, it's what the politicians want they get to gobble up billions for their states, while screwing over the tax payers.

It's also unfair to say we've stagnated, it's just research and development has been in other areas.
 
ubersonic said:
Hey don't forget Russia is planning a new space station to replace the ISS.
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Like NASA plan for mars I'll belive it when I see it. Russia is effectively bankrupt.
AMD NASA is pushing all this Mars stuff but has no mandate or funding for any such thing from congress. In fact there's only 2 SLS launches on the manifesto and what looks like it will be in the region if a billion $ a launch I wouldn't be surprised to see it scrapped after that.

However china wants to build a new international space station and I hope USA especially can get over the differences and join in.
 
Glaucus said:
Like NASA plan for mars I'll belive it when I see it. Russia is effectively bankrupt.
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Russia was effectively bankrupt when they decided to replace Mir, and they ended up building the ISS, this time they are in a much better financial position. They may have to let other countries buy in again, but it would probably only be India or China.
 

The slightly longer version of James may's flight, although its still cut off.

Absolutely stunning
 
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TheMightyTen said:
It annoys me that people get horny for these US aircraft, yet we built a production supersonic intercept fighter that in test exercises was able to attain altitude and intercept U2s with one even being recorded as topping out at 88,000ft following a ballistic climb.

The English Electric Lighting, ladies and gentleman, a British aircraft! From a time when we could make the best stuff and push boundaries

I used to love watching them take off from RAF Gütersloh in Germany in the middle 70s just before the squadrons were disbanded, and day I saw 3 escorting in a Vulcan, I was :eek::D:D, a sight that will always stay with me.
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Living in N Ireland we are so far removed from the sights and sounds of the armed forces that its hard to get horny about things like the lightning. For example I have never seen the ark royal or the harrier and will very likely never see their replacements. Hopefully in the future things will be different but its very unlikely.

Seen a U2 many years ago taking off from Cyprus, the seem much bigger in the flesh than picture.
 
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