Dragon Lady: A Portrait Gallery
Once a top secret, the U-2 is one photogenic spyplane.
- By Paul Hoversten
- AirSpaceMag.com, March 20, 2012
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First flown in August 1955, the Lockheed U-2 has an endurance record few aircraft can match: It’s still in service today with the U.S. Air Force on high-altitude reconnaissance missions over Afghanistan. The storied Dragon Lady is expected to continue flying until about 2023.
Initial testing of the classified aircraft was done at Groom Lake (pictured), a remote dry lake in Nevada nicknamed “The Ranch” and now known as Area 51. The aircraft were airlifted in pieces from Lockheed’s Burbank, California plant to Groom Lake and assembled there. These CIA aircraft carry fictional National Advisory Council for Aeronautics insignia and numbers.
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Comments (8)
Flown balanced on the edge of chaos.
Posted by Audwin Williams on March 22,2012 | 04:43 PM
"Kelly" Johnson was a national treasure... a great
American. We as a nation profited handsomely from his talents! Ingenuity let loose in a can-do society produced a fantastic aircraft. We see this also in Burt Rutan and Elon Musk..may America always be a CAN DO nation.
Posted by Brian M Roebuck on March 23,2012 | 02:49 PM
Was at that undisclosed location 10+ years ago, before the U2(s) got the glass cockpit. First clue the planes were in house was when a Camaro with USAF drove by me on the way to the mess area the second day I was on sight. Great set of stories.
B. A. Freeman (USAF Ret.)
Posted by Bruce A. Freeman on March 23,2012 | 05:26 PM
The U-2 with the camo pattern on the top is amusing -- who is going to be looking DOWN on a U-2 at 70,000 feet?
Posted by JP on April 5,2012 | 01:25 PM
@JP:
"The U-2 with the camo pattern on the top is amusing -- who is going to be looking DOWN on a U-2 at 70,000 feet?"
What about when they are on the ground?
Posted by Aaron on April 6,2012 | 03:18 PM
If you are wondering who that pilot in the old school pressure suit above is, he is James A.(Jim) Barnes Jr. As far as I know the man who flew the most hours in the U-2.
Posted by mike mayfield on April 9,2012 | 11:33 PM
Ref the gray camo, it was put on the aircraft because of concerns within the US that the Brits might be concerned about the black "spy plane" image. In fact, when we got to RAF Wethersfield the Brits were almost universally disappointed that they were not the classic black. For them, it sort of removed the "romance" of the spy plane legacy. As to the effectiveness of the camo, it was a test deployment, and I don't think anybody even considered the effectiveness issue.
Posted by Ken Stanford on April 19,2012 | 02:44 PM
The U2 articles in Air & Space and the additional pics online were really eye openers on the aircraft and the men who fly them. Also the people who have kept them flying are to be commended.
Posted by William on May 10,2012 | 06:42 PM