U2 (U.S.!) Forwardment

Pretty much the same scenario with winch launching even off a relatively
short runway. By the time you're so high that you can't land ahead it's
a piece of cake to turn downwind make a short pattern and land back on
the runway into the wind. Pretty much eliminates the risk found during
aero tow where you're too far down the runway to land ahead, but not
high enough to 'safely' make a 180. Then you're forced to land ahead,
off airport which in many places is not a pretty picture.

Shawn wrote:
Thanks for forwarding that Bob.
This is impressive:
"One need not worry about a flameout after takeoff in a
U-2. There either is enough runway to land straight ahead or
enough altitude (only 1,000 feet is needed) to circle the
airport for a dead-stick approach and landing."

Shawn

Shawn wrote:
Thanks for forwarding that Bob.
This is impressive:
"One need not worry about a flameout after takeoff in a
U-2. There either is enough runway to land straight ahead
or enough altitude (only 1,000 feet is needed) to circle
the airport for a dead-stick approach and landing."

Gary Emerson wrote:

Pretty much the same scenario with winch launching even off a relatively
short runway. By the time you're so high that you can't land ahead it's
a piece of cake to turn downwind make a short pattern and land back on
the runway into the wind. Pretty much eliminates the risk found during
aero tow where you're too far down the runway to land ahead, but not
high enough to 'safely' make a 180. Then you're forced to land ahead,
off airport which in many places is not a pretty picture.

But the U2 gets to take the engine along with it. :-)
I suspect a 12,000 ft runway helps.

Shawn

This article appeared in the Feb/Mar 2005 edition of Air and Space
magazine:

http://www.airandspacemagazine.com/A.../Contents.html

-bob

Shawn wrote:
Shawn wrote:
Thanks for forwarding that Bob.
This is impressive:
"One need not worry about a flameout after takeoff in a
U-2. There either is enough runway to land straight ahead
or enough altitude (only 1,000 feet is needed) to circle
the airport for a dead-stick approach and landing."

Gary Emerson wrote:

Pretty much the same scenario with winch launching even off a
relatively short runway. By the time you're so high that you can't
land ahead it's a piece of cake to turn downwind make a short pattern
and land back on the runway into the wind. Pretty much eliminates the
risk found during aero tow where you're too far down the runway to
land ahead, but not high enough to 'safely' make a 180. Then you're
forced to land ahead, off airport which in many places is not a pretty
picture.


But the U2 gets to take the engine along with it. :-)
I suspect a 12,000 ft runway helps.

I forgot. Check out Beale AFB from Google Maps
http://tinyurl.com/dho23

Shawn

Shawn wrote:
I forgot. Check out Beale AFB from Google Maps
http://tinyurl.com/dho23

Shawn

Very cool. Thanks for posting it. Zoom in a bit and scroll around and
there are lots of goodies:

- another U2 alongside the one on the runway (to the left and behind on
the brown area - looks like a formation takeoff)
- two more U2s on the ramp
- an SR71 on a tarmac squa looks like a gate guardian
- two A10s in the northern-most dispersal, but what are the white
aircraft up there?
- 7 black a/c at the north end of the ramp. An 8th is taxiing.
What are they?

--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. |
org | Zappa fan & glider pilot

Martin,

Looks to me like the U2 on the brown area adjacent the runway is the shadow
of the one taking off (visible over the runway). If you scroll northeast a
bit you'll find the control tower casts a shadow in the same direction.

Of course, I'm no satellite imager interpreter (and if I were I probably
couldn't tell you!), so I could be completely wrong.

On 1/28/06 4:56 AM, in article ,
"Martin Gregorie" wrote:

Shawn wrote:
I forgot. Check out Beale AFB from Google Maps
http://tinyurl.com/dho23

Shawn

Very cool. Thanks for posting it. Zoom in a bit and scroll around and
there are lots of goodies:

- another U2 alongside the one on the runway (to the left and behind on
the brown area - looks like a formation takeoff)
- two more U2s on the ramp
- an SR71 on a tarmac squa looks like a gate guardian
- two A10s in the northern-most dispersal, but what are the white
aircraft up there?
- 7 black a/c at the north end of the ramp. An 8th is taxiing.
What are they?

Bullwinkle wrote:
Martin,

Looks to me like the U2 on the brown area adjacent the runway is the shadow
of the one taking off (visible over the runway). If you scroll northeast a
bit you'll find the control tower casts a shadow in the same direction.

I think you're right. The second one is fuzzier, which would make it a
shadow.

Of course, I'm no satellite imager interpreter (and if I were I probably
couldn't tell you!), so I could be completely wrong.

Yeah, I know. You'd have to kill me if you told me.... ;-)

I'm still wondering what the tiny wing black planes are, though. Ditto
the white ones. One of these looks as it if could be a B-57 judging by
the wing chord and planform, but are there any still flying in the USA
apart from the much modified RB-57 in the NOAA fleet?

--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. |
org | Zappa fan & glider pilot

"Shawn" sdotherecurry@bresnannextdotnet wrote in message
. ..

But the U2 gets to take the engine along with it. :-)
I suspect a 12,000 ft runway helps.

Shawn

So, like, we should take the winch along in the glider?

Getting it to release would be interesting.

--
Geoff
the sea hawk at wow way d0t com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader.

They look like T-38's to me and could be chaff or chase or currency
planes. The 57 looks like the eppenage is separated. It's probably
being used for fire/rescue exercises. The small white ones don't quite
look like C-12's which I thought they might have been initially, but
they aren't twins. Maybe they are CAP Maules and/or 182's or even aero
club aircraft. One is definitely tri-gear, the other may be a
tail-dragger. A quick look at the Beale web site indicates a CAP
function, but no aero club.

When I organized chamber rides at Beale in 1984 for PASCO pilots, they
would have let us fly civilian aircraft there.

The empty hardstands indicate these images are fairly recent as the
tanker redeployments were done under BRAC2005. No GlobalHawks in view,
but the round pad SE looks like it has a C-17 parked there. Looks like
a wash rack.

Frank Whiteley

Martin Gregorie wrote:
I'm still wondering what the tiny wing black planes are, though. Ditto
the white ones. One of these looks as it if could be a B-57 judging by
the wing chord and planform, but are there any still flying in the USA
apart from the much modified RB-57 in the NOAA fleet?

The black planes are T-38s, they use them to keep the pilots busy when
they aren't flying U-2s. There is a D-21 drone parked next to the
SR-71. There is also one U-2 that appears to be missing its tail. The
white plane over near the Cessnas is a puzzle. It does look like the
hulk of an RB-57, but it looks too small relative to the Cessnas....