"Mike Zaharis" wrote in message
...


robert arndt wrote:

"Boomer" wrote in message
...
the U-2 was little more than an F-104 with high aspect wings to
overfly
unfriendly airspace. Not much of a "concept" there, just the only way
to
achieve that kind of altitude with the tech of the day. I guess the
Germans
invented the F-104 as well. There were "big wing" recon planes in
WWII, I
guess they were stolen from Germany too.

Gee, the U-2 bears a rather strong resemblence to the F-104, does it?
Let's look at the DFS 228 captured by the US in 1945 and studied for a
year before being given to the British to evaluate (which led to the
Slingsby T-44 concept):

http://www.luft46.com/prototyp/dfs228.html

Yeah right, the DFS 228 has NOTHING to do with the U-2. Get real.

Rob

Rob, let me be the first to defend you. Here's the original aircraft that
proved to the world
that high aspect ratio wings are good - and it's Nazi-era German!

http://www.luftfahrtmuseum.com/htmi/itf/goe3.htm
http://www.hobbyclub.com/Gal-minimoa.htm


Do you seriously think high aspect ratio wings werent invented
until 1936 ?

Francis Herbert Wenham at the Aeronautical society in London
built a wind tunnel and demonstrated the advantages of high
aspect wing ratios for gliders in 1871

This was understood by most of the aviation pioneers including Lillienthal

Keith