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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 1182.PDF
High-flying U-2 takes its final bow by John Bailey at Edwards AFB The last of the original Lock heed U-2 high-altitude recon naissance aircraft was retired by NASA last week, but not before it was finally allowed to demon strate publicly its extraordinary performance. The aircraft, a U-2C built in 1955 at Lockheed's "Skunk Works" in Burbank, set 16 new altitude and time-to-climb records during its last two operational flights from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. Lockheed built approxi mately 60 U-2s during the late 1950s and early 1960s at the height of the Cold War, (the Air Force has never revealed the precise number). More than 40 of the original fleet were lost through a combi nation of hostile fire and acci dents, according to British journalist Chris Pocock, who is about to publish a history of the U-2. Of these, seven are believed to have been shot down, including Gary Powers' aircraft over the Soviet Union in May 1960. One was lost over Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis, and the remainder were shot down over China while operated by the Taiwanese, Pocock says. The U-2 's record-breaking performance is no longer obscured by classification L Our frequent flyer program offers voice and data recorders that are expandable, reliable, easily serviced and cost effective- All backed by a company with an excellent support: reputation. Let us show you why United, Lufthansa, Delta, Northwest, Air France and many other airlines Selected Falrchild Wesson as their supplier of voice and data reciorders. FairchUd recorders — designed for the fu For information, call or write: Fairchild WestonSystems, Inc. Data Systems Division • Box3041 Sarasota, Florida 214230 Phone: (813)371-0811 TLX: 4947160 Fax:(813)378-1893 TWX: 810-864*0406 FAIRCHILD WESTON SYSTEMS INC. Excellence in Delense Systems Technology... Worldwide The original U-2 was acknowledged as a very difficult aircraft to fly. At extreme alti tudes, the margin between the stall and never-exceed speeds was approximately 5kt, forcing the pilot into a so-called "coffin corner". Several U-2s were lost as a result of engine flameouts at high altitude or through struc tural failure. Others were lost on approach, where the U-2 required unusually precise handling because of the small margin between the approach speed and the aerodynamic stall. The U-2's bicycle landing gear also required careful balancing of the fuel in each wing tank before landing. Pilot-friendly U-2R A larger and more pilot-friendly version, the U-2R (approxi mately 40 per cent larger than the original U-2 series), was introduced by Lockheed in the mid-1960s, although production ceased in 1968. It is believed that none of this variant crashed. In 1980 the USAF ordered a new variant of the U-2R, known as the TR-1. The airframe is virtually identical, although it carries a side-looking synthetic- aperture radar, which enables it to fulfil its battlefield surveil lance mission without over flying hostile territory. Thirty-five were ordered, and the last one will be rolled out by Lockheed in September. The U-2C retired last week was the ninth built by Lock heed, and was transferred to NASA in 1971 as an environ mental research aircraft. The aircraft attempted records in two take-off weight categories, C-1F group III (13,2271b to 19,8411b) and C-1G group III (19,8411b to 26,4551b). Among the records estab lished by the U-2C were: alti tude in horizontal flight 73,700ft, time to 3,000m (9,937ft) of 52 seconds, and time to 20,000m (66,247ft) of 12 min, 13 seconds. All of these were achieved in the lighter of the two weight categories, with an actual take-off weight of 15,9891b. The U-2 took just 150ft of runway to get airborne. Many of the records set last week had previously been achieved by the U-2 in oper ational service, but the nature of its role prevented Lockheed from publicising the fact. 24 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 29 April 1989
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