Armament:

Nil

History:

One of the most notorious research aircraft, the Lockheed U-2 series has become known in the media over the years as a “spy” aircraft, one example flown by Francis Gary Powers having been shot down on such a mission over the Soviet Union. But it is also known for many record-breaking flights, particularly time to altitude and altitude in horizontal flight records. Produced in a variety of models to meet the requirements of its users, particularly the USAF, NASA and the CIA, it flew all around the world on research and photographic missions. A difficult aircraft to operate, more than 40 are known to have crashed during service. Over the years very little has been released to the public as to its performance and the missions it has carried out.  It certainly saw much service during the cold war, and made many flights during conflicts since then, particularly Vietnam and in the Middle East.

The prototype, flown by Tony LeVier, made its first flight on 4 August 1955 at the secret Groom Dry Lake test facility in Nevada, being described as an un-armed weather research aircraft to be flown by civilian pilots. The aim of the design was to produce an aircraft capable of attaining and sustaining, for protracted periods, what were then considered to be extreme altitudes. To meet this goal the aircraft had an extremely high aspect ratio, sailplane-like wing, weight being kept to a minimum. It also had a single-point double-wheel main undercarriage with small jettisonable stabilising wheels employed for take-off and a small twin-tailwheel assembly, with wing-tip skids which prevented structural damage during landing. Power plant was a special high-altitude version of the Pratt & Whitney J-57C turbojet. The number of aircraft built over the years is not exactly known, but at least 37 were built between 1981 and 1989, some being two-seat trainers, and many had long careers, being updated on a number of occasions during service.

At least ten examples of the U-2 series have operated in this region over the years, mostly from East Sale and Laverton in Victoria. The first such U-2 arrived at East Sale on 25 October 1960 when three U-2s (56-6705, 56-6714 and 56-6715) of the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and four Martin B-57s arrived for high altitude work accompanied by two Douglas C-54s and a Douglas C-124, the latter providing ground crews and spares. These aircraft stopped during the flight at Vila in Fiji.  These U-2s carried out work for a period of four years between latitude 40 and 50 degrees south, this exercise being known as Crowflight VIII. The first series of flights took place from RAAF East Sale. Part of the agreement with the Australian Government was that special dust collection filters designed by the CSIRO Radio Physics laboratory be carried. These aircraft all left Australia on 19 and 20 November 1960 after completion of these flights.

A second flight of three U-2s [sometimes referred to as WU-2A] (serials 56-6700, 56-6705 and 56-6718) of the same unit, four Martin B-57s, two Douglas C-54s and two Douglas C-124s arrived at East Sale on 28 April 1961. An open day at the base on 14 May 1961 permitted the public to see the aircraft. These aircraft stayed until 29 and 31 May when they returned to the United States.

A third flight arrived at East Sale on 25 October 1961, the aircraft concerned at this time being one U-2 (56-6700), two U-2As (56-6714 and 56-6716), four Martin B-57s, two Douglas C-54s and one Douglas C-124. The U-2A was the designation for aircraft which had been fitted with a new variant of the Pratt & Whitney J-57 engine. Flights by this group concluded in early December, the U-2s departing on 5 December.

A further flight arrived at East Sale in March 1962, this consisting of two U-2s (56-6696 and 56-6718 – City of Sale), three B-57s, the support aircraft on this occasion comprising one Boeing B-50 and a Douglas C-124. A number of high altitude flights were made. On 8 May that year the Australian Minister for Defence announced that elements of the 57th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the USAF would be based for a period on a semi-permanent basis in Victoria, with the U-2s operating from Laverton and the supporting aircraft from Avalon. Two U-2s arrived on 12 September 1962 and the following day four Martin B-57s and four Douglas C-124s arrived.

Only one incident is known to have occurred to the U-2s, one making a landing on a foam covered runway at Laverton on 22 October 1963. A few of the U-2s which operated in Australasia are known to survive in museums in the United States: 56-6714 at Beale Air Force Base California; 56-6716 at the entrance to Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona; and 56-6722 at the USAF Museum at Dayton in Ohio. In June 1966 under the HICAT program one of the U-2s spent sometime operating from Christchurch, NZ before moving on to operate from Laverton, VIC.

Further aircraft in the U-2 series have been seen in Australia. In 1987 a Lockheed ER-2, supported by a Lockheed WP-3B (a variant of the Lockheed Orion [N43RF]), and the Fokker F-27 Friendship operated by Australia’s CSIRO, operated out of Darwin, NT. The ER-2 (serial 706) is a variant of the TR-1. Only one ER-2 was built, although 35 examples of the TR-1 were delivered. It carried improved sensors comprising an 8.23 m (27 ft) sensor and camera pod on each wing. Over a period of two months it made a number of flights from Darwin and was part of a Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange Project. It was involved, amongst other things, in the investigation of the mechanism and rates of irreversible transfer of mass, trace gases and aerosols from troposphere to stratosphere, and within the lower stratosphere.

Darwin was chosen for the experiments because of its reputation as being the location of the highest cumulo-nimbus clouds, and being the highest coldest tropopause (the interface between the troposphere and the stratosphere). Funding for the project came from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The overall plan was to discover more about the atmosphere and the formation of weather patterns.

On 8 January 1993 a Model ER-2 (N709NA / 86-1097) of the North American Space Administration [NASA] arrived in Townsville, QLD from where it operated on high-altitude research work for a period of four weeks. The ER-2 had a wingspan of 31.39 m (103 ft), a length of 19.2 m (63 ft), a wing area of 92.9 m² (1,000 sq ft) and a fuel capacity of 3,558 kg (7,844 lb). It had a cruising speed at 21,336 m (70,000 ft) of 690 km/h (429 mph) and a range of 4,828 km (3,000 miles). It was delivered to NASA in 1981.

It has been announced the USAF planned to retire its U-2 fleet during 2019 and reports indicate the Lockheed Skunk Works has been working on a replacement which has the same General Electric F-118 turbofan engine and will have a similar payload.