[video uit de oude doos] U2 land zonder landingsgestel
- Topicstarter prop-er
- Startdatum
160 KM/u of zo?
Autootje houdt hem makkelijk bij.. 8O
Autootje houdt hem makkelijk bij.. 8O
prop-er
Forum veteraan
Bron: http://area51specialprojects.com/heyser.html
The Air Force U-2 pilots were also competing with their CIA counterparts. The CIA had a more advanced model of the U-2, with a more powerful engine, which meant that it could fly 5,000 feet higher than the Air Force model and was more difficult to shoot down. Under a hard-fought compromise, the CIA agreed to lend several of its planes to the Air Force for the duration of the missile crisis but would retain control over the photo interpretation process.
Heyser and Anderson flew out to Edwards Air Force Base to pick up the CIA planes. According to his daughter, Anderson had fallen on the ice while on assignment in Alaska a few days earlier, and severely bruised his shoulder. Anderson's medical records show the squadron doctor diagnosed him with bursitis
and ordered him not to fly until at least October 15. With Anderson temporarily out of action, Heyser was destined to become the first Air Force pilot to overfly Cuba.
The countdown to Heyser's flight began the previous day, on October 13.Together with a navigator, he studied maps of Cuba, plotting a course that would take him directly over the SA-2 batteries hidden among the palm trees west of Havana. Intelligence officers briefed him on the threat from the SA-2s and
suspicions that they were intended to protect Soviet nuclear missile bases. He then took a sleeping pill, in order to get eight hours' solid rest before his mission.
While Heyser was sleeping, technicians were busy painting Air Force insignia onto the fuselage of the U-2. When he woke up, at 5 p.m. Pacific time, he was given a routine physical exam. Then he was served a high-protein, low-residue meal consisting of steak and eggs, toast and coffee. The idea was to generate
enough energy to keep him going during the six-hour flight, but spare him the discomfort of having to defecate in his flight suit.
The Physiological Support Division took Heyser through the preflight rituals, including 11/2 hours of "pre-breathing" pure oxygen, to expel as much nitrogen as possible from his system: If the cabin depressurized at 70,000 feet, nitrogen bubbles would form in his blood, causing him to experience the bends, like a deep sea diver who rises to the surface too quickly.
Heyser received the thumbs-up sign, and roared down the runway, pulling the control stick that gave the plane lift. The pogos -- sticks with wheels that prevented the U-2's long billowing wings from scraping the ground -- dropped away. The flimsy plane soared into the sky at a steep angle like some exotic
black bird.
Piloting a U-2, Heyser had discovered, was a little like returning to the early days of aviation, when flying was reduced to essentials. With no hydraulics to assist him, Heyser had to use his own arm strength to move the wing flaps, pulling or pushing the E-shaped yoke in front of him in the cockpit.
Above the yoke was a round viewfinder that could be used either as a periscope in the down position, to observe Earth, or in the up position as a sextant. U-2 pilot needed to combine two contradictory qualities, Heyser felt. In order to sit strapped into an uncomfortable ejector seat for up to 10 hours, he had to transform his body into "a vegetable," shutting down his normal functions. At the same time, his brain was constantly operating at full speed. Your mind never relaxes. If it does, you're dead.
Instead of flying back to California after his mission over Cuba, Heyser flew into McCoy Air Force Base outside Orlando, in order to hand over his precious intelligence materials as soon as possible. Because of the strangely configured undercarriage of the U-2 -- yet another concession to the weight limitations --it was unable to make a normal landing. Instead, Heyser had to stall the plane a few feet from the ground, so it performed a kind of belly-flop, plopping onto the runway. A chase car sped alongside, radioing guidance.
Heyser's plane was met by two generals, who personally couriered the film to Washington. A milk run -- a piece of cake, he told intelligence officers.
The Air Force U-2 pilots were also competing with their CIA counterparts. The CIA had a more advanced model of the U-2, with a more powerful engine, which meant that it could fly 5,000 feet higher than the Air Force model and was more difficult to shoot down. Under a hard-fought compromise, the CIA agreed to lend several of its planes to the Air Force for the duration of the missile crisis but would retain control over the photo interpretation process.
Heyser and Anderson flew out to Edwards Air Force Base to pick up the CIA planes. According to his daughter, Anderson had fallen on the ice while on assignment in Alaska a few days earlier, and severely bruised his shoulder. Anderson's medical records show the squadron doctor diagnosed him with bursitis
and ordered him not to fly until at least October 15. With Anderson temporarily out of action, Heyser was destined to become the first Air Force pilot to overfly Cuba.
The countdown to Heyser's flight began the previous day, on October 13.Together with a navigator, he studied maps of Cuba, plotting a course that would take him directly over the SA-2 batteries hidden among the palm trees west of Havana. Intelligence officers briefed him on the threat from the SA-2s and
suspicions that they were intended to protect Soviet nuclear missile bases. He then took a sleeping pill, in order to get eight hours' solid rest before his mission.
While Heyser was sleeping, technicians were busy painting Air Force insignia onto the fuselage of the U-2. When he woke up, at 5 p.m. Pacific time, he was given a routine physical exam. Then he was served a high-protein, low-residue meal consisting of steak and eggs, toast and coffee. The idea was to generate
enough energy to keep him going during the six-hour flight, but spare him the discomfort of having to defecate in his flight suit.
The Physiological Support Division took Heyser through the preflight rituals, including 11/2 hours of "pre-breathing" pure oxygen, to expel as much nitrogen as possible from his system: If the cabin depressurized at 70,000 feet, nitrogen bubbles would form in his blood, causing him to experience the bends, like a deep sea diver who rises to the surface too quickly.
Heyser received the thumbs-up sign, and roared down the runway, pulling the control stick that gave the plane lift. The pogos -- sticks with wheels that prevented the U-2's long billowing wings from scraping the ground -- dropped away. The flimsy plane soared into the sky at a steep angle like some exotic
black bird.
Piloting a U-2, Heyser had discovered, was a little like returning to the early days of aviation, when flying was reduced to essentials. With no hydraulics to assist him, Heyser had to use his own arm strength to move the wing flaps, pulling or pushing the E-shaped yoke in front of him in the cockpit.
Above the yoke was a round viewfinder that could be used either as a periscope in the down position, to observe Earth, or in the up position as a sextant. U-2 pilot needed to combine two contradictory qualities, Heyser felt. In order to sit strapped into an uncomfortable ejector seat for up to 10 hours, he had to transform his body into "a vegetable," shutting down his normal functions. At the same time, his brain was constantly operating at full speed. Your mind never relaxes. If it does, you're dead.
Instead of flying back to California after his mission over Cuba, Heyser flew into McCoy Air Force Base outside Orlando, in order to hand over his precious intelligence materials as soon as possible. Because of the strangely configured undercarriage of the U-2 -- yet another concession to the weight limitations --it was unable to make a normal landing. Instead, Heyser had to stall the plane a few feet from the ground, so it performed a kind of belly-flop, plopping onto the runway. A chase car sped alongside, radioing guidance.
Heyser's plane was met by two generals, who personally couriered the film to Washington. A milk run -- a piece of cake, he told intelligence officers.
Dat verhaal gaat over de Cubaanse rakettencrisis (1962) en op het filmpje zie je duidelijk aan de grote pontons onder de vleugels dat het hier om een U-2 TR-1 gaat, en die was er maar vanaf de jaren '80.
Ook de auto ziet er niet echt jaren '60 uit.
Ook de auto ziet er niet echt jaren '60 uit.
T
Theo Coenen
Guest
prop-er zei:
Dit was standaard bij elke start en landing van de U-2.
Dus zonder zo'n "collega piloot" zou geen doen zijn om zo'n ding zelfstandig te landen ?