U-2 Spy plane ride along

[ErikLS2]

http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/ (http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/)

[mc84_zz4]

Wow!, cool clip! :jawdrop:

[Shiro666]

Woah. That was great!

Thanks for posting.

[jon72vega]

That was Cool!

[98ssnova]

Yes very cool

[dipren443]

Yes very cool

You boys do recognize who that is, right?

[madmax]

Sweet GTO @ 1:12!

[moreHP]

You boys do recognize who that is, right?


The dude from top gear? Lucky son of a....

[dipren443]

The dude from top gear? Lucky son of a....

Yup, that is Captain Slow aka James May. Yes, very lucky SOB.

[CraigMorrison]

I liked the Top Gear episode where he got to pilot a Veyron to 252mph. One fun job!

[70 Chevelle]

I'm shocked that they would let anyone ride along in that plane

[novaderrik]

I'm shocked that they would let anyone ride along in that plane

why is that? it's capabilities have been known to the public for about 40 years- actually, closer to 50 if you go back to that one that was shot down over Russia while Kennedy was president- and the person in the back doesn't get to actually push any buttons and doesn't need to actually know what's going on. they are just along for the ride.
that looks really cool, but a ride on an SR71 would be much more intense..

[70 Chevelle]

Simply because of the nature of the plane. Even though it's old it's still serving it's original purpose to this day isn't it? I wonder what's involved in a ride along training wise. Mabye I'm just jealous. How does one go about getting a ride along in a U-2?

[Twentyover]

Simply because of the nature of the plane. Even though it's old it's still serving it's original purpose to this day isn't it? ........

With the availability of satellite imagery for strategic observation and unmanned aircraft like Gloal Hawk for tactical observation, risking an asset like a pilot today requires a unique circumstance. Regardless, they are currently still listed in the active inventory scheduled for retirement in 2014.

That said, U2's were flying before I was born. An old fart friend who retired a couple years back tells a story of an incident that occured when he was in the Air Force in North Dakota (I think it was Minot) in the late 50's. An aircraft was stationary on a ramp at dawn for several minutes, and a reporter for the base paper snapped a picture. Posted on the front page the next day. They had to go through every trash can to recover every copy of the paper. The reporter (some typist kind of guy) thought the U2 was a weather observation aircraft.

And Eisenhower was persident. Powers was exchanged 2 years later during the Kennedy administration. Sorry for beinga jerk about this, but historical imprecision really burns my toast

[Taman]

My brother was in the Air Force and has received 3 rides in a F-15. He said it was the most awesome ride he has ever had.

[LS6 Tommy]

You boys do recognize who that is, right?


Sure do. That special James did was one of the best Top Gear episodes of the series.

Tommy