Bailout at 70,000 feet

A U-2 pilot hits the silk at the edge of outer space

A U-2 pilot hits the silk at the edge of outer space

It would be safe to say that most young Americans who grew up during the Cold War era have a fleeting knowledge of only a few U.S. military aircraft; two of these would definitely be the SR-71 Blackbird and the U-2 Dragon Lady. Both arrived ahead of their time, and they provided the majority of the intelligence that was so desperately needed during that period. The U-2 was first to emerge from the famous Lockheed Skunk Works, and with the ability to reach an altitude of 70,000+ feet, Soviet fighters had very little chance of shooting one down, and surface-to-air missiles had not yet developed to a point to be effective against an aircraft at such altitude. It was subsonic and depended on its lofty ceiling to protect it. It proved to be a great success. Before production ended, 86 of these aircraft were built.

The aircraft’s first flight was recorded on August 1, 1955, at the top-secret Groom Lake facility known to the public as “Area 51.” The initial test that day was meant to be only a high-speed taxi run, but with its lengthy wingspan, the U-2 got airborne while only moving at 70 knots. After a period of fine-tuning, the U-2 went operational with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) sometime in 1957. The aircraft’s vast potential was evident by then. Its projected altitude of well above 70,000 feet was a reality, and the fact it could stay aloft for about 12 hours made it a formidable reconnaissance weapon.

For the pilots who eventually flew the aircraft, it proved to be difficult to fly and challenging to land. For a fact, the early

U-2 engines had the tendency for ill-timed compressor stalls. Flameouts were also common, and all of these led to a critical situation calling for dead-stick landings when air starts were attempted to no avail. USAF records show that by early July 1958, approximately a dozen pilots had gone through very dangerous situations such as landing on small airstrips, during inclement weather, or at night. Most of the U-2 pilots, during those early periods, would attest that landing one in good weather during the day proved to be a challenge.

A quick example of this is related by

Lt. Colonel Buddy Brown, who compiled 1,600 hours in Dragon Lady. It would be the first of two dead-stick landings he was privy to while flying the U-2. “This incident

SUDDENLY, WITH NO WARNING, THE NOSE PITCHED UP, AND HIS U-2 STALLED AND FELL OFF ON THE LEFT WING. THERE WAS ONLY ONE THING LEFT TO DO.

happened sometime in 1959 or 1960 in an aircraft with the P-37 engine, and it was my fourth or fifth flight. It was my first night celestial navigation training mission. I had taken off at about 8 p.m. from Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Texas, and was climbing east towards San Antonio, when at about 50,000 feet the engine gave a “chug” and flamed out. I was not too concerned because it was not an unusual occurrence with that particular engine.”

“I called my command post, informed them of my flameout and that I was gliding down to restart altitude, and I’d call them back after I got the engine restarted. All went well and I started my second climb to altitude, and at about 50,000 feet, the engine quit again! I went through the same procedures and got a restart and started climbing for the third time. At about the same altitude, it happened again! Since I

To combat the high altitudes, Dragon Lady pilots must wear David Clark pressure suits that are very similar in design to what the SR-71A Blackbird pilots used to wear. The pack to the right of the pilot is the air conditioner.

(Photo courtesy of Chuck Stratton via Warren Thompson.) U-2A (no. 715) was delivered to the USAF in August 1957 and was eventually converted over to U-2G in early 1965. It met a tragic end in late April 1965 in a crash at Edwards AFB, killing the pilot. This photo was taken over the Southwest during the early 1960s.

This early publicity photograph was taken by Lockheed. U-2A (no. 66696) was the third production unit to come off the line specifically for the USAF. It was destroyed in a crash (March 22, 1966) in Arizona while based out of Laughlin AFB. (Photo courtesy of Denny Lombard via Warren Thompson.)

The only weapon the Dragon Lady carried was the state-of-the-art A-2 camera. It provided crystal clear imagery for the intelligence people. This A-2 unit is being winched up into the camera bay after some maintenance work. (Photo courtesy of Denny Lombard via Warren Thompson.)