Comments on: What It is Like to Fly A U-2 Spy Plane

By: Fishpaste

Fishpaste — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:59:55 +0000

Good Vid Nomad. James May from Top Gear is great.

Good explanation of the air pressure as well Erik.

Also most people don't have an idea how an A/C is pressurized. I didn't so I asked a pilot.

It uses bleed air off the engines and blows it in the cabin. This is why the A/C doesnt have to be perfectly air tight.

Well should your engines go out you will not have a pressurized cabin. In the case of a U-2 I imagine you do not want to risk that chance so they just where the suit so its a non-issue.

If anyone is an actual A/C mechanic feel free to correct me.

By: Erik

Erik — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:36:51 +0000

There's a difference between cabin pressurization and how high the aircraft is actually rated to fly. At a cruising altitude of about 40k, a Boeing 767's cabin pressurization would be about 7k. With the U2 climbing to 70k-80k or however high it's actually rated for, pressurization at 30k or so makes sense.

By: Nomad

Nomad — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:13:23 +0000

Check this out. http://propilotnews.com/2009/07/high-flight-reall... Be sure to watch it in full screen mode. Awesome video. But, I know my nose would start itching like mad 2 minutes into the flight.

By: Teadrinker

Teadrinker — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:14:58 +0000

Monoplanes and biplanes went over 50 000ft before WW2 (probably could have gone higher, but 40 000 feet is considered the maximum altitude for most people without a pressurized cabin).

"In 1984, during a major NATO exercise, Flt Lt Mike Hale intercepted an American U-2 at a height which they had previously considered safe from interception. Records show that Hale climbed to 88,000 ft (26,800 m) in his Lightning F3 XR749. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Electric_Lig…

So, the U2 was flying at an altitude that was considered safe from interception, which was most probably not its ceiling (when you think about it, bombers made in the 50's could fly at 70 000feet).

By: JoeC

JoeC — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:14:51 +0000

Obviously, that article had to be understated because some things still can not be disclosed. One such understatement was the comment about, "Going up to 30,000 feet cabin pressure is like going from sea level to Everest each day," since most commercial international aircraft fly between 30,000 and 35,000 feet. To require space suits, the pilots of the U-2 must be going into significantly higher altitudes.

As far as the fatigue factor of flying the aircraft without hydraulics, I didn't think today's pilots have it as tough as the aircraft's pilots a generation ago. One of the things that was spectacular about the aircraft then was watching it take off. They did maximum performance climbs. The long wings appeared to flex like a bow as the aircraft was make climb as steeply as it could while flying in a tight spiral until it disappeared up in the sky. That must have taken a lot of physical strength.

As suggested in the article, the landings not only required strength but finesse. The landing gear is very short, the wings are very long, but I don't believe the earlier aircraft had installed wing tip wheel gear. So, it took incredible precision to keep the wing tips off the runway. That was part of the mission of the chase car assistant, who back in the day was driving an El Camino, to tell the pilot how level he was and supposedly carry attachable wing tip gear in its cargo bed.

By: Lemmy

Lemmy — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:29:34 +0000

That article is so detailed and well written I'm sure I have experienced flying a U-2. I will be able to add that to my resume. After all the title is What it is like to fly a U-2 spy plane. That article is likely re-printed from someone's elementary school news paper.