By the way Super,

this conversation may have already taken place, but we used the new 6.0 liter version Pontiac GTO (I'm assuming that's what is in your avatar) in the U-2 program as chase cars when I left two years ago. I actually really liked the chase car duty - those GTO's had some serious get up and go. I frequently saw the better side of 140 mph when asked to clear the runway quickly. Actually, it was one of the fastest cars I'd ever driven. Looked pretty cool with the cop car lights and blue paint job too............ ahhhhh the good ol days

I watched a couple of YouTube videos of that. Looked like a very fun job driving those chase cars. That GTO sounded great roaring down the runway. Too bad they'll be collectors items soon. :(

lol, yeah thats whats in mine. Its a 6 liter with 400hp 400torque and a 6 speed manual. Its a blast. I've seen the youtube videos of the chase cars and it looks like a fun job. I've secretly had mine up to 140+ before and that was barely in 5th gear ;)

I've seen those videos too, but whatt exactly are the chase cars supposed to do? Put the hood under the wing tip?

Thats better answered by silver2gold.

Looks like some sort of a fun (and dangerous) way of replacing a $500 radar altimeter system with a $40,000 sports car.

Drug pilots use the same system to get aircraft on the ground at night, in an open field with no lights. When you find a Cessna 310 sitting on top of a stolen light bar equipped Ford F150 4x4 in an open field with nobody around there was always a common probable cause involved. Then they moved on to these because they had little bomb bays and could simply drop the load.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Pembroke

Anyone remember when these were showing up abandoned at airports all over the Eastern US? I remember one weekend when I first began flight training that everywhere I went there was a perplexed FBO owner wanting to know who parked one of those things on his ramp.

Not exactly:

The chase car job is dual hat - and every U-2 pilot does it. This first part of the job is to be the back up pilot for the mission, also called the mobile officer. While the mission pilot is getting into the space suit and pre-breathing 100% O2, the mobile pilot does the walk around, checks the forms, and pre-flights the cockpit so that when the mission pilot is done being strapped into the jet, he hits about 9 items on the checklist and leaves the hanger. During the mission, the mobile officer monitors weather and all other things of interest back at the base.

When the mission pilot returns, the mobile pilot then performs the run-in for landing. This is essentially a formation rejoin on the jet as it crosses the threshold. It's pretty common to see 100+ mph, hence the sports cars. The purpose of the run-in and chase is purely safety. The mobile officer calls out the altitude of the main gear (the U-2 is bicycle gear) starting at either 10 feet or the threshold - whichever comes first. Simultaneously, he is monitoring the attitude of the tail wheel - when it comes level with the main, the jet is about to stall and land. Crab is also monitored by the mobile officer as the U-2 will not tolerate any of it on landing (same with drift.) The ideal landing in the U-2 is one in which the main gear crosses the threshold at 10 feet, is held off the runway at 2 ft until the tail wheel comes down, the plane stalls, and the jet lands slightly tail wheel first with wings level, no crab, and no drift. No-voice landings are commonly practiced (chase car is still there, just remains silent unless safety becomes an issue) so that the pilot would be prepared in the event of a divert.

Ok, so there's a long answer to a short question.

Interestingly enough, it's not so much a matter of money in the U-2. A fully decked out, all the super secret gadgets on it, wartime mission bird has been estimated to be worth around 1 billion (yes a B) dollars. It's more a matter of weight. When Kelly Johnson was asked to design it - he was asked to carry so many pounds to a certain height and to be able to stay there for a certain amount of time (hows that for unclass.) It soon became known that for every 10 lbs of weight added to the airframe, so many feet of altitude would be lost at the top end. Many, if not most, things designed on the plane can be explained by the desire to save weight.

Thanks , sounds like a little tailwheel time could come in handy http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/im...ons/icon12.gif

I remember an abandoned DC-4 out in western Kansas. And then there was the guy in the Super Cub that had to be talked down by Customs so they could arrest him. Seems he wasn't even a pilot.