III Corps

So the downturned tip has another function besides being a skid?

ryan1234

I wonder if it is to protect those sensor pods on the tip? It just seems like a wing tip device would be almost counter-productive... conventionally speaking - the pod looks like it would be more of an aerodynamic benefit than a winglet or something - with that shape of wing??

Razor

No, not really.

Razor

This jet has just returned from a mission and is getting the pogos (outrigger wheels) put back in. Note the maintainer leveling the wings. We stop on the runway, get the pogos put back in and then taxi to parking.

III Corps

What a great shot of the sensors packages. I would think even Johnson had no idea of the derivations his design would achieve. And all of that stuff is reconfigurable, right? As required for the sortie.

Razor

The jet is reconfigurable which is one of its great strengths. Here's a picture showing the various sensors and such.

Razor

And this is from the Lockheed website:

U-2 Dragon Lady
U-2: Real-Time Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance on a Moment’s Notice

The U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft continues to serve as America’s Sentinel of Peace. Current U-2s are equipped with the latest, most advanced signals intelligence (SIGINT), measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) and imagery intelligence (IMINT) sensors in the Air Force inventory. The U-2 supports intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) requirements in all weather and light conditions, enabled by dynamic airborne retasking capability. A Distributed Common Ground Station (DCGS) can replan and execute new U-2 collection plans as quickly as the U-2 pilot can push a button. Time-sensitive and highly perishable intelligence is collected to provide the National Command Authority and theater commanders with information for situational awareness, geo-political warnings and indications, battlefield surveillance, targeting and battle damage assessments.

Early models of the U-2 (“A” models) began service in the late 1950s. Today, the U-2 S model is 40 percent larger and carries four times the intelligence collection payload. After 45 years of operation, the U-2 was officially recognized in 1998 for service to the nation by receiving the coveted Collier Trophy award for outstanding aeronautical achievement. Today, the aircraft they said “could not be built and would last a few years” has celebrated over 50 years as a national asset.

The flexibility of the U-2 over satellites ensures that the U-2 will be the first to arrive and the last to depart. The nation will continue to rely on the U-2 for dependable, accurate and time-sensitive ISR information for years to come.

III Corps

What I don't understand is the U-2 is essentially a tailwheel aircraft. So why didn't the USAF get some nasty tailwheel machines like the T-6 or some other tail wheel aircraft and use it for training? My Swift gets my attention with 15kts of crosswind.

Ftrooppilot

RB-57F (Now politically correct NASA WB-57F) Airplane I flew in the late 60s. Wings twenty feet bigger then the U-2R. Carried two pilot and systems operator. Could be configured with four engines (detachable 2 J60s and 2 TF-33s. Hope Razor knows what it's like at 70,000 over Alaska in the winter with the Northern Lights are putting on a show.

YouTube - NASA WB-57F - Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada

jungle