U-2

Results 1 - 11 of 11

Area 51: Origins

America’s once-secret air base had humble beginnings.
March 26, 2013 | By Peter Merlin

Lin Xu’s Obsession

It started with a search for images of his hometown in China. Hundreds of miles of film later, he can't stop looking.
May 2012 | By Rebecca Maksel

A pilot takes a self-portrait aboard the U-2.

Killer at 70,000 Feet

The occupational hazards of flying the U-2.
May 2012 | By Mark Betancourt

I Flew the U-2

One of Lockheed’s former chief test pilots for high altitude reconnaissance describes the joys and terrors of the U-2.
March 2012 | By Linda Shiner

Dragon Lady: A Portrait Gallery

Once a top secret, the U-2 is one photogenic spyplane.
March 20, 2012 | By Paul Hoversten

The Lockheed U-2 ushered in a new age of spying and new requirements for photo interpretation.

Project Equine

...And the high-tech horse it rode in on.
May 2011 | By Dino Brugioni

Kelly Johnson

Head Skunk

Kelly Johnson was a giant in aircraft design. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, we find out how his legend grew.
March 2010 | By Peter Garrison

Above & Beyond: I Have a Flameout

September 2008 | By Richard G. Woodhull, Jr.

Even the wing tips and the midwing "super pods," which look like fuel tanks, are crammed with sensors and electronics. Its paint scheme makes it look stealthy, but a U-2 is detectable by radar.

The U-Deuce

The secret to a spyplane's eternal youth is a new suite of gadgets installed on a classic chassis.
March 2005 | By William E. Burrows

Alone and Unarmed

As unpiloted craft take over the reconnaissance mission, an intelligence insider looks back on the work that set recce pilots apart.
March 2000 | By Dino A. Brugioni

That New Black Magic

In the early years of the cold war, enter Kelly Johnson and an clean sheet of paper--long enough to accommodate an 80-foot wingspan.
January 1999 | By William E. Burrows


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