WHAT ON EARTH

[yud]

Ok so I am reading the autobiogerghpy of Kelly Johnson (his work incudes P 38, U 2, SR 71 and others), and he said they landed and lanuch a U 2 of a carrier 

here is a video of it


And yes I knew about the C 130 but a U2

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Must have been a nightmare given the U2's landing characteristics, Let alone the wingspan

[thebullfrog]

Balls. Great big diamond balls.

[Medic82]

WOW! I did not know that.

[Magnus]

wouldn't those massive wings make it easier to fly at slower speeds?  so easier to land as long as you don't hit the tower?

must have taken guts though, especially in the pre computer assisted landing age...

[Craig]

That pilot made it look almost easy

[edap617]

A U2 plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers made an international news when it was shot down over Soviet Union in 1960.

[Gareth]

Is there any way he could have gotten back up if he'd missed the arrestor cable?

Big round brass ones if you ask me.

[Swiss Man]

I looked up U2 on youtube and found this.

[yud]

I looked up U2 on youtube and found this.

I saw that it was a fun show

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

The early U2, were notoriously difficult to land as not only did they have bicycle landing gear, the pilot had to constantly pump fuel from one wing to the other to maintain level flight

As for a second pass, in theory yes, as there rightly famed for climbing like home sick angel's

[J-sews]

Given the long range of the U2, I wonder who/where they were spying on that they needed to launch from a carrier?

[Swiss Man]

BIG BROTHER?

[yud]

Given the long range of the U2, I wonder who/where they were spying on that they needed to launch from a carrier?

the 3,000 mile range did not permit the CIA to go everywhere they wanted to.  The only (known) time it was used in operation was to watch a French nuclear test in French Polynesia.

[J-sews]

Given the long range of the U2, I wonder who/where they were spying on that they needed to launch from a carrier?

the 3,000 mile range did not permit the CIA to go everywhere they wanted to.  The only (known) time it was used in operation was to watch a French nuclear test in French Polynesia.

So not only did the pilot have to take off and land from a carrier, he had to overfly a nuclear weapons test?!

Big brass kahonies indeed.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Given the long range of the U2, I wonder who/where they were spying on that they needed to launch from a carrier?

the 3,000 mile range did not permit the CIA to go everywhere they wanted to.  The only (known) time it was used in operation was to watch a French nuclear test in French Polynesia.

So not only did the pilot have to take off and land from a carrier, he had to overfly a nuclear weapons test?!

Big brass kahonies indeed.

Not over, through it to get samples