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The amazingly difficult landings of the U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane

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The Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady is a beautiful spy plane that flies at high altitudes (70,000 feet in the air) to provide reconnaissance for the military. It’s also a pain in the ass to land too, requiring an actual chase car on the ground to tell the pilot how far the U-2 is from the ground. Here’s a Sploid video showcasing those delicate and difficult landings of the Dragon Lady. (sploid.gizmodo.com) More...

Andrew Taylor
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jkudlick
Jeremy Kudlick 3
There was a recent Mythbusters episode where Jaime and Adam both went through a week of training just to be a passenger in a U-2, but only one could go. Jaime was kind enough to defer to Adam (since Adam actually collects spacesuits and other aerospace paraphernalia), and you could tell Adam had a wonderful time.

What this article doesn't tell you is that the chase car is driven by a certified U-2 pilot. This is because they want the person giving instructions to the landing aircraft to be familiar with the way the aircraft handles.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Interesting... I would have thought they would have a Radio Altimeter that could have done the same thing for them and more accurate.
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