I
T WAS A typically dreary and cold
Monday morning on a seven-day
nuclear alert tour at Loring AFB,
Maine, in 1977. The Strategic Air
Command (SAC) base was initially
chosen for its close proximity to
the Soviet Union by ying directly over
the Polar ice cap, and it was just 22
miles south of the Canadian border. My
crew had just returned to the massive
alert facility after pre- ighting and
performing hundreds of checks through
engine run-up and shut-down that were
carried out daily to ensure our assigned
KC-135A Stratotanker was airworthy
and ready to go to war along with the
resident B-52G Stratofortresses.
With 30 minutes to kill before lunch
was served in the chow hall, we settled
into the vinyl couches along the wide
corridor alert facility for our favorite alert
pastime of playfully insulting other crewmembers and cracking jokes, when over
the intercom I was summoned to the
front desk.
As the aircraft commander this was
usually an omen of bad news concerning
either a crew member or an aircraft
problem — normally the latter. To my
surprise, I was handed a large manila
envelope that contained orders to report
to Beale AFB, California, to interview for a
very rare slot as a ‘special-duty assignment’
U-2 pilot. I was elated, to say the least, as
this was a dream I had harbored since
my college days. I had worked hard
to become the best pilot possible so
that I would get this opportunity, and
apparently my ying and o cer e ciency
reports as well as medical records passed
muster, generating this invitation. I was
handed the opportunity to see if I had the
‘right stu ’ to master an aircraft that was
arguably the most dangerous operationaltype in the world to y — the U-2
‘Dragon Lady’.Starting the process
After arriving at Beale and spending the
night in visiting o cers’ quarters, I was
picked up by a junior pilot who seemed to
have a chip on his shoulder. I was driven to
the squadron where I realized immediately
that I stood out like a sore thumb in my
dress blues, required by my schedule for
the rst day of my two-week interview.
The other pilots wore bright orange ight
suits adorned with patches and appeared
as stand-o sh as the driver had been.
I entered the squadron commander’s
o ce with a crisp salute and was
o ered a seat in front of his desk. A few
informalities were exchanged before he
got down to business. I was informed that
there were only eight of the original 12
U-2R aircraft in existence for worldwide
reconnaissance missions and fewer than
the 24 pilots authorized to y them, hence
my invitation to interview. Many personal
questions followed as he evaluated my
compatibility with the existing pilot cadre.
He mentioned his close-knit fraternity of
pilots had to depend on each other forIn the fi rst of a series of features, former U-2 pilot Lt Col (ret’d)
Rick Bishop recounts how he joined this elite group of US Air
Force aviators.REPORT Rick Bishop
The U-2 is
notoriously
diffi cult to land,
a technique the
author had to
master in order to
be selected to join
the program.
Gert Kromhout84 July 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
84-93 U-2 part 1 C.indd 84 22/05/2018 16:16