[yarddog]

Aside from missiles, the next most dangerous thing in a U2 is the landing. Very difficult, I've read, because of the huge wing and the ground effect. A lot of pilots very early on were killed trying to learn how to fly that thing.

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.