Lockheed U-2S

From FlightGear wiki
Revision as of 21:42, 12 July 2012 by Rebootl (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
WIP.png Work in progress
This article or section will be worked on in the upcoming hours or days.
See history for the latest developments.
Lockheed U-2S
Image requested
Type High-altitude reconnaissance
Author(s) Cem Aydin
FDM YASim
--aircraft= U-2S
Status Alpha
 FDM Stars-2.png
 Systems Stars-1.png
 Cockpit Stars-1.png
 Model Stars-3.png

The famous U-2 spyplane, for FlightGear.

The Lockheed U-2 is a very high-altitude reconnaissance Aircraft, operated by the United States Air Force. One unofficial nickname is "Dragon Lady".

The development of the U-2 goes back to the early 1950s, when the U.S. military desired better strategic reconnaissance, against the backround of the upcoming Cold War. The first flight was on 1 August 1955.

The U-2 looks very much like a glider, but it is equipped with a jet propulsion engine. To save weight, even the landing gear was minimized. It only has a front and a rear gear aligned on the main fuselage axis of the aircraft. The supplementary wheels under the wings, the so called "pogos", drop off during takeoff (See Special Features section below). This unique design gives the U-2 the capability to climb up to 70'000ft (21'000m).

During it's long history the U-2 experienced several redesigns. The FlightGear aircraft described here, features the latest, modern variant of the U-2, the U-2S.


Landing the U-2 is a challange, due to it's sensitivity to crosswinds and it's glider like landing gear configuration. There are skids at the top of the wings, which are also implemented in the FDM (Flight Dynamics Model).