U2 Carrier Ops - The Movie!

[+Typhoid]

we had an earlier topic on the U2 operating from carriers. Now to be clear, I never doubted that they did. Just some pleasant discussion of the details on approach speeds and such.

 

one of my former shipmates and a pilot who I rode behind for many, many hours and traps sent me the below email which was sent to him by someone else. I do not know who the original author was.

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

Sent by an old Phantom driver. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it!

 

 

 

I was on this cruise. This was in late 62 or early 63. After the U2 carrier quals, we departed Oakland with 2 U2's and about 6 F4's. aboard the Ranger (CVA61), We had 7or 8 crews, some maint guys, and 3 Airforce (or Maybe CIA) U2 pilots. Our OinC was John Young (later

Astronaut) . We were gone about 3 weeks. Never found out where we went except that we crossed the equator and had a big shellback ceremony.

After about a week the U2's flew several 6 or 7 hour missions and then we turned for home. We flew several times during the cruise just for proficiency but just in the landing pattern. No tacan locks and no radar returns (and no bingo fields!) so we were way out in the middle of

nowhere.

 

http://www.creativefission.com/Frame_MOV_Carrier320x240.html

[the test pilot]

the kind of thing not written in the official documents.

 

i can only imagine what did they do there.

[Jug]

the kind of thing not written in the official documents.

 

i can only imagine what did they do there.

 

Flew out, snicked a few flicks, flew home.

[Reddevil0911]

Landing on the carrier must of been hell on the airframes!?!

[krgf15]

That is the best thing i've seen all day

!!!!!!!

[JediMaster]

Landing on the carrier must of been hell on the airframes!?!

 

Not like you'd think. The U-2 stalls itself to a landing on a motionless runway under normal conditions. With the carrier's forward motion it's relative speed to the deck would be quite low and the stress likely not too bad. The corrosive sea air is a different matter! The maintenance guys would've had to go thru hell, especially without the spares stores a normal carrier plane would have.