U2 Ridealong

gkainz said:
or ... U2 on Youtube! :)

How DO these guys score these rides? Very cool vid here:

http://propilotnews.com/2009/07/high-flight-really-high-flight.html

has this been posted already? I searched (a little) and didn't see it, but I do recall a thread on the U2 somewhat recently?
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I have no idea how they scored the ride. I was at Lane Wallace's talk at Oshkosh about the ride she took, and it almost took an act of Congress to get her up there, and once she experienced the preparation she had to go through, she said she understood why!
 
It's interesting how a secret machine of war and all the horrors show's how peaceful and beautiful the world truly is.
They should build a buttload of those things and start giving people free rides. It's probably cheaper and definitely less messy than going to war in the long run.
 
The U2 is a pretty amazing machine. Not just because it was an engineering marvel back then, but especially because it's still in active use today, over 50 years later!

He flew out of Beale AFB (it was fun hearing NCT over the radio!). I've visited the support people for the U2 there; it's an amazing operation!
 
As much at a loss for words as he was, i think he captured it pretty well. That perspective looks truly stunning.

Also, i know the pilot had the chase cars, but its still pretty impressive how he touches the main gear in the center of the centerline.

BTW, that guy is from a show called Top Gear, which is sort of an auto magazine show from the UK, and it is aired here in the States on Discovery, or something like that. Im not sure if this was filmed for an episode, but it appears to be.
 
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Fantastic. Wow.

Branson should just buy a fleet of those. A one-on-one ride to the edge of space. I'd pay for that.

And how cool is this? At 70,000 feet, they are traveling at .707M, indicated airspeed 104 knots. Not much molecules to shove through the pitot tube (does it even have a conventional pitot?)

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"The earth is round like a ball!"
104 kts IAS. Balanced on the edge between Vne and Stall!
 
What he didn't even mention that Lane went into during her talk was the machinactions required to get permission to go up, as well as the days of intensive studying that she had to undrgo. The two cockpits are isolated from one another, so the rider needs to be fully briefed not only on how to oprate anything required to egress the cockpit themselves, without assistance, but also how to use the emergency equipment, from fire starters to rafts, that they have on board. Oh, and your odds of surviving an emergency really aren't all that good. :no:

She also talked about how many of the U2 pilots also fly taildraggers that could only hope to indicate 104Kt!
 
jasc15 said:
As much at a loss for words as he was, i think he captured it pretty well. That perspective looks truly stunning.

Also, i know the pilot had the chase cars, but its still pretty impressive how he touches the main gear in the center of the centerline.

BTW, that guy is from a show called Top Gear, which is sort of an auto magazine show from the UK, and it is aired here in the States on Discovery, or something like that. Im not sure if this was filmed for an episode, but it appears to be.
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That's James May, and while he is on Top Gear, I think this is from his other show. I forget what it's called, though. I think he was the perfect person to send up, not only is he a pilot in his free time, but he's just the type of nerd (like so many of us) who could truly appreciate what he was getting to do.
 
bigred177 said:
So why is it that these have survived for so long and the SR-71 didn't?
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Some folks would answer that with one word - Aurora. On the other hand, some of us suspect cost of operation vs. benefits derived.
 
Ghery said:
Some folks would answer that with one word - Aurora. On the other hand, some of us suspect cost of operation vs. benefits derived.
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A controller with SoCal approach told me once that they used to see returns that moved at Mach 6 or higher in the early 90s. Apparently, it was usually at night. Hmmmmm.....
 
Ghery said:
Some folks would answer that with one word - Aurora. On the other hand, some of us suspect cost of operation vs. benefits derived.
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sba55 said:
A controller with SoCal approach told me once that they used to see returns that moved at Mach 6 or higher in the early 90s. Apparently, it was usually at night. Hmmmmm.....
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In 1985 there was an ad in Aerospace Week and Space Technology that I recall.

It had a picture of a U2 and under it read "If you were too young for this" Then there was a picture of a SR71 with the caption "And you just missed out on this. Now is your time"

It then spoke of a new program by the Lockheed Skunk works and was asking for applicants. This was not for stealth as that was already up and running. All I have to say is hmmmmmmmm.
 
gprellwitz said:
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She also talked about how many of the U2 pilots also fly taildraggers that could only hope to indicate 104Kt!
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IIRC a good friend of mine used to be one of the officers that retrieved the film from the U2's when they landed. My friend asked the pilot what he did for fun in his spare time. The pilot told him he flew sailplanes. Shortly there after my friend started looking into sailplanes and now has several thousand hours in them.

Brian
 
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