Topic: U2 plane at 70k ft. | |
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Check it out. It's a pretty breath-taking video.
http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/u2.html |
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awesome
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"a view of eternity"
right on...I'd do it!! very kewl! |
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I'm not sure if it is available yet but the videos from the early x-15 rocket plane flights are even more Astral. 70K feet is no joke. That is very high but not the highest a U-2 flies. the X-15 did a successful bounce off of our atmosphere's surface (Yes it did achieve going past our atmosphere) and the film footage of that flight was definitely something to see. Nothing like going from 35K feet to 120 some odd thousand feet in under three minuets. The speeds acknowledged by the Air Force for the x-15 was Mach 4.5 but many in the know say it almost his Mach 7 but at those speeds the plane damaged itself. The film shows the sky going from blue to black in under three minuets.
Oddly the U-2 for as slow as it is was supposed to be retired after three tries but no one has managed to find a good reason to get rid of the jet. It is a venerable plane that has been in service since the 1960's. Many accuse it of being a redesigned F-104 and both planes share common elements like the engine as well as other parts such as the fuselage but it was wholly designed for what it does, Fly VERY VERY High and take nice crisp pictures. The old camera it was equipped with could tell you what brand of cigarette someone was smoking on the ground because you could read the cigarette package FROM 70K PLUS FEET. It had the same camera as the SR-71. Now NASA uses one as does the Air Force for recon in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It still out performes the Predator Drones! Not bad for a Grandpa Plane! |
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