This is my daughter, and Mother of my Grandchildren at Eglin's armaments museum. As you can see it was foggy that morning.
Posted on 06/21/2005 9:40:49 PM PDT by kristinn
WASHINGTON, June 21 - A U-2 spy plane crashed Tuesday night in Southwest Asia, the Defense Department announced, specifying an area where American aircraft support missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The crash is the first of a U-2 in that region. Military officials who have been briefed on the crash said early indications were that the plane crashed on landing at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, its home base. The were no indications of hostile fire, they said.
The cause of the crash and status of the pilot are not known, the Pentagon said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Now you did it....
...step away from the keyboard...
....note the black Suburban pulling up in your driveway...
" In 1992 all TR-1s and U-2s (all U-2Rs) were designated U-2Rs"
from wikipedia.
I think the hesitancy to mention where the plane went down is interesting in light of the Scott Ritter al Jazeera article this week saying the war with Iran has already begun. Definitely not a conspiracy nut, just thought it was interesting.
Any word on the name of pilot? One of my VMI classmates (a "Brother Rat") flies U-2's in that region.
A private reply would be appreciated...if anyone knows.
I was at a forward air refueling field in Tanajib, Saudi Arabia in 1991, just after the Superbowl, and we had F117's, F-16's and F/A 18's performing low passes and landings fully loaded with ordinance, except when landing, 24/7 for 30 days. Needless to say, the effect on us Jarheads.... TOTALLY JAZZED!!! Semper Fi! Bless our boots on the ground and in the air.
I used to fly banner planes in So. Cal. in the 90's, and one year the Blue Angles did the national anthem flyby at the Rose Bowl (they don't allow banner planes now after 9/11).
We usually had 10-20 banner planes up, in a tight altitude restriction on top of the blimps and helicopters, but under regular traffic. It was an airspace nightmare.
Anyway, we were briefed on exactly when the Blues would be coming through, and everybody moved a few miles away to give them a path in and out. What was amazing is that they time this stuff exactly to the second. They must have equipment for such things.
It was impressive to see from in the air, even if we were a couple miles away.
I knew a retired, now deceased U2 pilot well.
Once when we were returning from a gun show, he told me about how difficult they were to land. Of course the problem was the tremendous lift. He had a friend killed at Del Rio, Texas when a gust of wind caught one as it was landing.
I also remember him telling us a Mexican General really liked the pilots and would show them great hospitality when they visited him.
Yes--the aricrat underwent upgrades. But none of them are called the TR-1 anymore. They are the U-2R models.
bump
This is my daughter, and Mother of my Grandchildren at Eglin's armaments museum. As you can see it was foggy that morning.
I didn't think those were out yet...
Here is a picture of the Aurora.
Was that a puff ball trail?
When we do formation join ups - we have to be on our mark at the exact time also.
For the type of flying I was trained in - military level precision is taught and expected.
I'll never forget my ex- was discussing a recovery operation - we had 8-10 planes in the air that needed to be recovered with minutes. One of the newbies said, "I go around alot - what should I do?!" and my ex-/coach said,
"FOCUS MORE!"
Still no word. I've contact my buddies at the 9th and haven't heard back from anyone.
When I know - I'll ping you.
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