"f86sabre" (f86sabre)
03/02/2014 at 10:55 • Filed to: Planelopnik, u-2
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"f86sabre" (f86sabre)
03/02/2014 at 10:55 • Filed to: Planelopnik, u-2 | 15
| 27 |
The U-2 is one of the icons of the Cold War. The high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, developed under the watch of Kelly Johnson, has been in continual operation in the United States since 1957. It's fifty plus year service run saw a number of variants and a huge number of military and civilian uses. One of the more interesting events in the U-2s history, from a technical perspective, is the fact that the aircraft was tested for use on aircraft carriers. Initial tests were conducted in 1963 and 1964 with U-2Gs and the aircraft underwent more formal sea trials aboard the USS America in 1969, as part of Project Whale Tale, using the larger U-2R. Yes, they operated a plane with a 103 ft wing span off of a carrier. By way of comparison, the F-14 had a wingspan of 64 feet.
Why operate a U-2 off a carrier? The CIA could not reach all the territories it wanted to see from land bases. Strangely, not everyone was thrilled with the Dragon Lady being over their territory or taking off from their airports. Carrier deployment allowed a way around this problem.
A U-2 wing under construction at Lockheed's Skunk Works
The U-2R used for the later tests was significantly larger than the U-2Gs tested in 1963 and 1964 and included a number of design features to aid in carrier operations. The plane featured beefed up gear and spoilers on the wings to fight the U-2's tendency to float when it got into ground effect. Obviously, there was a tail hook added to aid in landing. Finally, the last 6 feet of the wing tips folded to allow the aircraft to be more easily handled on deck and to fit in the hangar deck.
The U-2 shows off its folding wing tips (NASA TR-1 variant shown)
The U-2's low takeoff speed and massive amount of lift made takeoffs relatively easy from the carrier's deck. The U-2's 80 knot landing stall speed meant that a closing speed of on 50 knots could be achieved if the carrier was running into the wind. This made landing, on calm seas at least, relatively easy as well. While the U-2 utilized a tail hook for landing the pilot of the 1969 tests, Bill Park, felt they could even land without the hook if need be.
The U-2's tail hook on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
So why didn't the U-2 become a staple of carrier operations? The nature of the U-2's mission mandated quick deployment to trouble sports. Carriers just didn't offer that kind of capability. According to excerpts from a CIA report published by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
"Aircraft carriers are enormously expensive to operate and require an entire flotilla of vessels to protect and service them. The movement of large numbers of big ships is difficult to conceal and cannot be hastily accomplished, while the deployment of a solitary U-2 to a remote airfield can take place overnight."
Getting ready for flight aboard the USS America in 1969
Final sea trials of the U-2 occurred during the 1970s and tested the aircraft in a naval surveillance role. There were even ideas of equipping the U-2 with nuclear anti-ship weapons. By this time, satellites were able to carry out much of surveillance that the Navy was interested in and the idea of operating the U-2 off of carriers was finally dropped.
Interestingly, the only operational missions the U-2 undertook off a carrier were not against the Soviets or Chinese, but against an erstwhile ally. A U-2 was deployed to spy on French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. These missions confirmed the CIA's belief that the French were on the verge of deploying operational nuclear weapons.
The U-2 continues to serve today around the world. Thirty-two are in USAF service and NASA operates a number for high altitude research. Carrier operations of the U-2 may only be a footnote, but it highlights the versatility of the aircraft. That versatility has served the country well and is part of the Dragon Lady's amazing history.
Sources:
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/fac…
http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchiv…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_…
Images
Hazygrey.org, air-and-space.com, nationalmuseum.af.mil, aera51specialprojects.com
> f86sabre
03/02/2014 at 11:29 |
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Not sure if you've seen there but there are a bunch of videos on Youtube showing airforce landing these things. They have to use chase cars to follow the plane and guide it to landing. They use Camaros, G8s and Vettes.
rad_mike
> f86sabre
03/02/2014 at 12:10 |
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Can't tell you how much I enjoy these posts, F86Sabre.
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f86sabre
> rad_mike
03/02/2014 at 12:19 |
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Thanks for the kind words. I put these together to exercise a different part of my brain and for fun, and usually work on them while the kids are watching cartoons on weekend mornings. I hope the spelling and grammar aren't too bad.
wkiernan
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03/02/2014 at 12:28 |
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They could have used M5s, 911s, GT-Rs and such, but you know, high-security NOFORN.
Frank Grimes
> f86sabre
03/02/2014 at 13:08 |
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This is awesome! I love the u2 and dont know why but this was a great read and I had no idea they used them off carriers. I assumed it would be a nightmare to land.
You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
> f86sabre
03/02/2014 at 13:43 |
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I had never heard that they actually operated these off carriers, even if only for test and evaluation purposes. Good stuff again.
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f86sabre
> rad_mike
03/02/2014 at 16:20 |
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Glad you like them. Just something I do on weekend mornings while the kids watch cartoons.
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f86sabre
> f86sabre
03/02/2014 at 19:33 |
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ttyymmnn
> f86sabre
03/02/2014 at 21:45 |
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You know who else operated from carriers...
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f86sabre
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2014 at 23:51 |
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Yeah, that was pretty spectacular.
Team Live Badass
> wkiernan
03/03/2014 at 11:14 |
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I got a good lol out of that.
Organized Chaos
> f86sabre
03/03/2014 at 12:20 |
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I guarded a couple U-2's now & again while TDY in the Middle East. Never got old seeing these things in operation and watching the pilots walk out onto the flightline in their space suits. One of them agreed to take my camera (just a cheap disposable back then) up on a mission with him. He brought me back a few awesome photos.
daender
> f86sabre
03/04/2014 at 18:43 |
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I need to show this to my pops, he used to work on many U-2's in the late 80's to early 90's at Beale AFB, CA and Osan Air Base, South Korea. I'm not sure he was aware of its carrier-deployment abilities.
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> wkiernan
03/04/2014 at 19:10 |
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No, it's cause fuck yea, Murica! Too proud not to use Murican cars.
Grenader
> f86sabre
03/04/2014 at 20:09 |
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100% Made in Burbank, California. In the 80's I used to call on Lockheed in Burbank, selling Fire Equipment. You could not meet with anybody inside the Skunk Works, because I did not have the correct security clearance. Instead, we' d meet outside at the break area where the Food Trucks used to park, and discuss our unclassified business.
I did the same thing with Northrup in Pico Rivera, CA during the design and early manufacturing phase for the B-2.
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f86sabre
> daender
03/04/2014 at 21:09 |
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Please do. Would love to hear any stories your dad is willing to share.
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daender
> f86sabre
03/04/2014 at 21:15 |
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I can't remember many off the top of my head but I recall his story of the time one of the higher-ups at the Osan Air Base crashed the police-package Mustang meant to guide in the U-2 during landings.
ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> f86sabre
03/04/2014 at 22:00 |
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James May got to fly in the U2 as part of his coverage of the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing a few years back.
It's really quite something to watch.
KnifeKnut
> f86sabre
03/04/2014 at 22:57 |
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That has to be the most gentle carrier landing ever.
VegasGuy55
> f86sabre
03/04/2014 at 23:41 |
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Worked with the U-2 at Osan for many years. When I got there in 79, they were using a couple of 396-powered El Caminos for chase vehicles. VERY nice! Mustangs for much of the 80s and early 90s. The 9th SRS "Black Cats" were the guys doing the flying back in the day, and the cat was painted on the tail. And sometimes, it wound up on the tail of visiting SR-71s, replacing the Habu.
kschang
> f86sabre
03/04/2014 at 23:43 |
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Now for a part of U-2 you may or may not know... Probably not.
Taiwan operated U-2's for a while. Yes, Taiwan, Republic of China, that little island that Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to after Mao took over mainland. For a long time, Taiwan was US proxy in a cold war against China, and when US wants to keep an eye on China, Taiwan gets to play with some leftover toys, such as the U-2.
And ROCAF's "Black Cat Squadron" paid dearly for this. We have our own Gary Powell... Two in fact. ROCAF flew 102 U-2 missions, and lost 5 aircraft, 3 pilots killed, two POWs. The POWs were captured in the 60's and not released until the 80's.
Jackstand
> f86sabre
03/05/2014 at 00:29 |
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First off, awesome write up, I really enjoy reading about awesome planes like theses.
Second, I duno if anyone here is familiar with Kerbal Space Program, but after reading this I got a funny idea for a space plane, here it is landed via emergency chutes(named the Dragon Lady):
And when its landed properly:
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f86sabre
> VegasGuy55
03/05/2014 at 06:05 |
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Thanks for sharing that. I had read that they used El Caminos for a while. I tried to find a pic when I put this together and couldn't would have been a cool shot.
ezzyblack
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03/05/2014 at 12:28 |
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On landing they use chase vehicles to catch the wings. The U2 only has centerline landing gear and the wings will contact the ground otherwise.
I had a friend in my Army days who used to occasionally ride along in the five liter Mustang used for the purpose in Korea in the early 90's.
Speed0verdose
> Jackstand
03/05/2014 at 14:10 |
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Off topic, but I've been looking at this game and was wondering if it's worth the money.
Is it?
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Jackstand
> Speed0verdose
03/05/2014 at 20:29 |
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Personally, I think so. The vanilla game alone has plenty to do (even more if you make absurd goals for yourself). Then there is the mod community, they can easily expand the game 10 fold. If you like to watch Lets Plays, Scott Manly does some pretty awesome stuff with KSP (both modded and not). Their website also has a demo version of the game you can try out as well.
Links for reference:
Scott Manly Youtube channel:
Here
Awesome Helicopter made in vanilla game:
Here
KSP Website(Demo Link):
And Here
Hope this helps.
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Speed0verdose
> Jackstand
03/06/2014 at 10:54 |
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It does, I've been playing Simple Rockets on my phone for a while and was looking for something more challenging. This looks like it might be a winner.