"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message ...
"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
Gosh, Arndt is right! After comparing his DFS 228 and the above to the U-2,
I can see where he gets the idea that the U-2 bears a "strong resemblence"
to the German design, other than of course the different wing, fuselage,
tail, cockpit, and engine layouts... they both have wings, right?
Brooks
The DFS 228 was examined by the US Air Technical Intelligenece Unit
and other US aviation companies (hint:Lockheed) long before the Cl-282
proposal. Although it doesn't use a rocket engine nor escape capsule
the U-2 is still a high flying recon SAILPLANE with a ceiling the DFS
would have had in 1945 if the Walter engine would have been installed.
I could care less what Mr. Johnson claims or the Skunk Works. Lockheed
was well aware of German technology from the technical analysis of
wartime documents. BTW, the CIA was founded with the original SS spy
documentation on the Soviet Union. Funny how they ALSO got into the
disc aircraft programs too, which were SS controlled. Coincidence?
Never.
Rob