up speed, keeping in mind the 241ft
turning radius and planning well ahead
for turns. I soon got the feel of the boosted
brakes, which were much more powerful
than on ‘the Goat’, and I was cautioned
against applying them after landing until
I had almost stopped, as no anti-skid was
available. Blown tires were commonplace
with new pilots and cost a case of beer
to the chief. Approaching the 90° turn
leading to the runway entrance, I heard,
‘Start your turn now’ as I overshot the
centerline before correcting.
Finally, on the runway with all the
choreography surrounding a U-2 launch
complete, I received a thumbs-up from
‘T’ and ‘Swanee’. I looked upward through
the canopy and recited the age-old,
universally accepted pilot’s prayer: ‘Dear
God, please don’t let me mess this up’. I
advanced the throttle to 80 per cent for a
nal instrument check, before releasing
the brakes and rewalling the throttle.Flying a national asset
The acceleration in the U-2R was still
awesome, but somehow statelier. The roll
spoilers — absent on ‘the Goat’ — aided
lateral control on the runway, requiring
less yoke travel to control the wings. Well
within 300ft the aircraft leapt skyward as I
fought to keep the airspeed at 160kt, just
20kt below the gust-faired limit speed,
reaching 5,000ft inside of 30 seconds.
After catching my breath, I headed out to
the west for some stalls before actuating
the gust control to the up position. This
simultaneously shifted both ailerons and
aps upward from faired to 7.5 and 6.25°
respectively, relieving structural loadings
on the wing and tail during high-speed or
rough-air operations. Having smooth air
allowed me to accelerate to 260kt where
I found the cable-powered controls alldecapitated at the knees during ejection.
The need for an air-conditioned garment
cannot be overemphasized, prolonging
as it did the onset of fatigue in a cockpit
designed to provide heat at the -80°C
temperatures found at height above 97
per cent of the earth’s atmosphere. After
being strapped in by PSD and completing
my checklist up to engine start, ‘Mac’
asked if I had any questions or regrets. My
answer was something like, ‘Let’s get this
puppy red up before I lose my nerve,’
which garnered a chuckle as he gave my
life support connections one last safetycheck before closing the canopy for me to
lock internally.
My butter ies subsided somewhat as
the J75 engine droned into life while
I completed my pre-taxi checklist by
energizing the electrical, hydraulic and
pneumatic systems. After displaying three
red- agged ejection seat pins to ‘Swanee’
and ‘T’ in the mobile and receiving a
thumbs-up, I realized that I was then
sitting atop a live rocket seat as I brought
up the power, receiving a smart salute
from the crew chief. Immediately I could
feel the extra weight as we slowly pickedBelow: A U-2S
on the ground
at Beale in 2017,
with aircraft in
the pattern in
the background.
Gert Kromhouthttp://www.combataircraft.net // September 2018 95
90-97 U2 part2 C.indd 95 20/07/2018 11:39