This is the bird that crashed
Posted on 09/21/2016 3:13:41 AM PDT by Drago
SUTTER COUNTY, Calif. (KCRA) —One pilot was killed and a second pilot was hurt after ejecting from a U-2 plane out of Beale Air Force Based that crashed into the Sutter Buttes in Sutter County, Beale AFB officials confirmed...
(Excerpt) Read more at kcra.com ...
It’s a dupe but SO WHAT? Americans DIED. That’s worth a dupe a lot more than most articles around here.
It’s terrible that they ejected on time, but one pilot still didn’t make it. Must of hit a canopy or something on the way out.
Also terrible that people on the ground were in the line of fire.
Why are we still flying the U-2 ?
Good question and here is my best guess.
First I believe it was Clinton that threw away all the tooling to make SR71s.
Second, every satellite in orbit is known and our enemies know when they are passing over.
And lastly, because it is a super cool plane lol.
It works. The technology need is all in the cameras. I’m surprised we have’t come up with an autonomous drone to do this.
Because satellite schedules are predictable. The U2 is capable and an invaluable asset in the intelligence community. Much of what we know regarding NK comes from the Dragon Lady.
The U-2 dates back to the 1950s.
Of course, so does the B-52...
The classics always last...
I recall returning to NAS Whidbey from NAS Fallon when I saw an Old Dog on a low level. One of the most surreal things is to see is a B-52 500 feet above the ground.
Did you get that idea from Top Gun?
I miss Goose.
Years ago I toured the NASA facility at Moffett Field. They had a U-2 (plus one they were cannibalizing), and we were allowed to see inside the cockpit. It was VERY rudimentary. The seat was made out of wood. I did not know it had any ejection capacity at all.
After the infantry, I went to the airforce and was an aircraft mechanic, f-18, Chinook, griffon, snowbirds etc. I’m quite familiar with the systems, and that just seemed the logical explanation.
Also, yes it happened in the movie Top Gun heh.
Ejecting is pretty dangerous. A large percentage of pilots who eject are killed or injured. I knew a pilot who broke his back from the stress of an ejection.
We had a student pilot in the F-15 schoolhouse who ejected at close to Mach. He was in the hospital for a year due to "flail injuries". When he ejected we was thrust into a 500 kt wind that whipped his arms and legs around like a rag doll. It broke his arms and legs and dislocated all the joints in his extremities. His helmet was ripped off his head even though it was strapped on.
The ejection rocket is so powerful that it damages the plane. Early tests on two seated fighters found that the second guy to eject frequently couldn't get out because the airframe was damaged to the point where his seat wouldn't work.
It's a scary business. Especially when you're dealing with extreme speeds and altitudes.
The first time I saw a real U-2 was in 1962 when I saw one landing at Howard AFB, Panama Canal Zone. From reaction of my uncle and his friends it was a common occurrence.
As to why we are still flying the U-2; it offers the intelligence community a very cheap and extremely flexible system that shows up unannounced and gets the desired information before there can be any response. Something new systems have a hard time doing and satellites can not do.
There were U-2s based in Japan in the 1950s. We knew an Air Force pilot (an American Indian) when we lived there.
I still have a Zippo lighter with his engraved name.
Something very odd about the story
I’ve never heard of a two-seat U-2..( I think there are some trainers mod.with a second cockpit) normally U2 are normally single-seaters
I’m starting to think it’s a cover for something else secret that went down
IIRC, Gary Powers ejected from his U-2 at very high altitude over the Soviet Union. We were stunned when he was captured alive because we didn’t think ejection was survivable from that altitude.
He did not eject. He was ejected. He popped the canopy and then was thrown out of the tumbling wreck. I don’t think his aircraft had an ejection seat. Some early U-2s didn’t.
This is the bird that crashed
Yea i know.. I thought about it while posting that’s why hedged my bet ...I did recall the trainer birds with the kluged on cockpit in the electronics Bay... I just hadn’t seen anything about this being a training mission
I didn’t either but they identified the crash as the TU-2 which indicates the two-seat trainer.
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