The U-2 spy plane: white knuckles from the start

First in a four-part series

TOKYO - Early 1960s work at the Elint – electronic intelligence – Center, on Fuchu Air Base near Tokyo, quickly became monotonous and tiring, as I personally found as a U.S. Air Force analyst. For U-2 missions you had to sit there for 12 hours at a stretch, three times a week, and watch the same signals appear and disappear.

But there was an underlying tension because of the high-priority nature of the work; and the all too frequent reminders of just how dangerous it was for the pilots who flew the missions.

The U-2 had a good claim to the title of flimsiest plane ever built. It was a specially designed single-engine, single-seat Lockheed aircraft. Nicknamed “Dragon Lady,” it flew at an altitude of 70,000 feet, conducting round-the-clock, all-weather missions.

It had a wingspan of 103 feet and only two permanent landing gear units set up in bicycle configuration – one front and one back. That limitation was necessary to give the plane more lift.