The Lockheed U2: Spying Before Satellites

So, the statement that the U2 flew "just above it's stall speed of 75mph" should be clarified to point out that it is 75mph INDICATED airspeed. The true (corrected for altitude) airspeed was closer to 400mph The U2 flew it's missions in the "Coffin Corner" of aircraft performance where IAS stall and Critical Mach almost meet. The air is so thin that the amount of air hitting the airframe is very small, so measured airspeed is very low. But as that thin air is accelerated over the wings and body to produce lift, it approaches the speed of sound and can cause shockwaves to form, which is the critical mach speed. Critical mach is dependent on true airspeed, while indicated airspeed and aircraft performance is determined by air density. That's how the stall speed and maximum speed get so close together at high altitude.

AirBus A380; Antonov AN-225 "Mriya" and dissapearance of her sister body definitely deserve an episode each ... ^^

if the U2 is still flying after 75 years, i guess that means it still hasnt found what its looking for

It's crazy to think that they're still in operation today, but when they were introduced it was closer to the Wright Brother's first flight in 1903 than to now.

"Should we cover this?" Simon. If you cover it I'm gunna watch it.

The SR-71 is great and I wont be upset if its next, but I need to see some love for the A-10.

I'd love an A380 video Simon!

Forgot to point out one of the most important reasons it is still in use, mainly that analog photo film is extremely suitable for scaling and post-zooming whereas digital film cannot extend beyond a certain amount due to pixelation. Thus providing superior photo quality over any other surveillance source.

When I was in the U.S. army and stationed in Panama in the early 1990's there was at least one U2 that came to the old Howard Air Force base. The first time I saw it was on takeoff. The noise was what got our attention. It sounded like a rocket taking off. Later we saw one landing. We were getting ready for a jump and were surprised to see a Mustang convertible with 4 crew in it heading for the runway. This was not a common occurrence for an active air base. As the U2 came into view the Mustang took off down the runway like he was trying to race it. After the U2 touched down it continued to taxi slowly in a straight line as a crew member attached the wing gear on one side and then jumped up on the wing to hold it down. Two other guys ran to the U2 with a large box. They removed one box and put the second one in it's place. Three crew members and the box all loaded into the mustang raced off the runway leaving the fourth crewman to ride the wing al the way to a hanger. The plane never stopped completely until it was in the hanger. We later talked to one of the pilots. He told us that they were doing drug interdiction work and had to be ready to take off in short notice, so the plane always had a canister of film loaded. The exposed film was replaced with the new film on the runway and raced to the lab so they could get it developed as quickly as possible. By the way, the reason for the chase car is because of the U2's long nose. The pilot can't see the runway.

A video on Skunk Works would be awesome. U2, SR-71, F117 Stealth Fighter, etc...lots of interesting history there

"which is 33 million dollars under budget today" - no Simon. "which is unheard of today" would be more accurate. BADA-BUM-TSCHHHHHH

A380. Yes. Seen all the different documentaries out there but the delivery style you bring and bonus facts are worth the revisit.

"Bridge Of Spies"...directed by Steven Spielberg....Excellent movie.

Cmmon, Simon... You know what to do. SR-71

That Tom Hanks movie is really good “Bridge of Spies”

I saw a U2 take off from Van Nuys airport after a weekend static airshow event back in the early 1990s. On takeoff I thought the U2 would use up much of the municipal airport runway but instead it seemed to use less than 100 yards and quickly went vertical after dropping the extra wheels. It almost instantly disappeared in the overcast skies only to return a few minutes later for a much appreciated flyby of the airport. Truly an amazing aircraft from a bygone era.

What's amazing was that Clarence "Kelly" Johnson helped build and design the U-2 in under a year. It did help that Lockheed was able to adapt many of the components from the F-104 Starfighter into this plane, hence the reason why the project developed so quickly. But getting a special version of the Pratt & Whitney J57 engine to run at 70,000 proved to be a lot of work, to say the least.

SR-71 next! Still the fastest spy-plane ever and holds the record for fastest transatlantic flight from New York to London in less than two hours! Also please do Burj Khalifa soon!

Excellent video, as always Simon. I have watched these amazing aircraft going in and out of RAF Fairford many times, always incredible to watch.

Simon: "[...] first 2012, then 2004, now 2023 [...]" xD