The Lockheed U-2 – A Photographic History of the Famous Cold War Spy Plane by Ken Neubeck. HB 190 pages, 174 black & white photographs, 17 colour photographs, 10 charts, 7 diagrams, 5 maps and 4 cartoons. Pen & Sword £25, ISBN 1036133850
The author is an aerospace reliability engineer, so the book has a very sound technical grounding. At the beginning, he states that he employed the deconstruction technique (me neither) when writing it. Having had access to formerly classified CIA papers, he is able to reveal much that was not previously public knowledge. The result is, I would suggest, a succinct and authoritative collection of briefing material, akin to a mini version of a Haynes Owners’ Workshop Manual, rather than a ‘good read’.
I certainly learned a lot, given that my prior knowledge of the U-2 was fairly scanty. The design of the fuselage was based on another classic Lockheed type, the F-104 Starfighter. It first flew in the year that I was born, 1955, and would appear that the ‘Dragon Lady’ has weathered the passage of time remarkably well, given the fuselage and wing elongation between the original U-2A and the later TR.1A/U-2R/S, plus the constant upgrade of cameras and sensors. Have a look at the photograph on page 10 of the two versions side-by-side and also at the series of cockpit photos on pages 70 to 73 detailing the transformation from analogue to digital instrumentation.
Only 103 U-2s of all types were constructed, in four batches from the 1950s to the 1980s. They were flown by the CIA, USAF and NASA, with only about 1000 pilots in all qualifying to fly a tricky aeroplane, which has a thin margin between lift and stall in the thin air where it operates, which is difficult to land and has a very cramped cockpit. There were (and are) a skilled and hardy breed, holding to the motto, ‘In God we trust, all others we monitor’.
An outline is given of operations all round the world over the course of 70 years, from the Suez Crisis of 1956, aided by copious maps, charts, photographs and diagrams.
One of the most fascinating vignettes was the description of a series of trials and a single operational mission made from the US Navy’s aircraft carriers, Ranger, Kitty Hawk and America. I also particularly liked the photograph on page 12 of a U-2C overflying a stationary XB-70 Valkyrie at Edwards AFB in 1967. Chapter 9 devotes 16 pages of text, photographs, a diagram and a cartoon to ‘The U-2 pilot’s Challenge: Landing and Takeoff’, which makes it clear just what a unique aeroplane this is.
So – an interesting book, a useful publication and informative reference – for the dedicated U-2 fan and also the non-specialist who is curious to find out more about this remarkable creation by Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson and the Lockheed Skunk Works.
