U-2 Taming the Dragon Lady by Sharon McKniff

U-2 Taming the Dragon Lady

  Brigadier General David L. Patton, a U-2 High Altitude Reconnaissance plane pilot held an informative and fascinating talk with Rotarians on February 14, 2013.  The Brigadier has retired from the Air Force and now lives in Saddlebrooke.   The U-2 High Altitude Reconnaissance plane first flew in 1955 at an altitude of over 70,000 feet, with a range of 3,000 miles.  Referred to as the “Dragon Lady”, Brigadier Patton shared that this U-2 plane is “the most challenging bird I’ve ever flown.”  The pilot requires a lot of skill.  Flying the U-2 is like “driving a heavy truck in low altitude, but at high altitude you can fly it with one finger.”  The plane is dangerous to fly because it has both a high-speed stall and a low-speed stall.  If the pilot gets into trouble and the plane begins a spin from a low-speed stall, the plane begins to break up and the tail falls off.  No pilot has ever survived the spin.In the early years, there were no simulators for pilots to train.  Brigadier Patton said “the first time you flew it, you’re all by yourself.”  There were no 2-seat pilot trainers (and there are trainer seats now), there was no ejection seat (although there is one now), and there were no fuel gauges.  Many improvements have since been added to the U-2 plane.The U-2 plane has been used by the CIA and the Air Force.  Many flights were logged over Cuba during the missile crisis between 1962 and 1964.  Additionally, thousands of flights were logged over Russia during the 1960’s.  The U-2 was flown over Vietnam between 1964 and 1976, and has been flown over Korea since 1975 to the present.  This plane has been used in the Middle East since 1974 and is still very heavily involved in that area to this day.  The U-2 planes are deployed via an aircraft carrier.  Personnel on the carrier include a surgeon, a representative from the company that built the plane, hydraulic technicians, and people from almost every category involved with this aircraft.  Today, many nuclear testing flyovers are being conducted.  The plane catches nuclear gases as they drift in the air after nuclear testing.  The results are sent to Patterson air force base where they can determine exactly what type of device was exploded.

Cameras are loaded into the U-2 via a large crane.  The pilot often feels like he (or she) is also wedged into the cockpit via crane, as the space is very tight.  The U-2 cameras have taken over one million feet of film.  The film options of the U-2 include both black & white, together with IR (infrared) film.  The infrared film can spot the wake of a ship in the dark through heavy cloud cover.  While flying the U-2, the plane is so high that the pilot can discern the curve of the earth.  The newer version of the U-2, called the “S-model”, can detect IED’s (“Improvised Explosive Device”) very quickly and the “detect to kill” time is often as short as 5 minutes from the U-2 detection to communication with ground units that can decommission the incoming threat.  This S-model has a very sleek all-glass cockpit with a very complex instrument panel.

 Patton shared that this plane has a “check six” rearview mirror.  In response to questioning looks from his audience about why a plane would need a rearview mirror, he shared that the plane is black, but if the pilot is creating a white contrail behind him, then the U-2 plane isn’t as “invisible” as it’s designed to be.  “And we certainly don’t want that,” he commented, to the chuckles of his audience.