The Dragon Lady

The time had come to look for a new assignment. I noted a levy for U-2 pilots, the little-known spy plane that officially no one admitted existed at that time. Checking with personnel I found that I possessed the pilot experience required for the program. In confidence I went to my Squadron Commander to ask for his advice about applying to the hush hush program that "unofficially" didn't exist.

The boss's advice was to forget the U-2. He had already forwarded my name to go to the brand new KC-135 all jet tanker that was replacing our old KC-97s. I took his advice and never looked back. It was a good move and I had a wonderful 15-year career flying the KC-135 "Stratotanker." Eventually I retired from active duty but our beloved KCs still soldier on today, some 45 and counting years later.

Somehow, though, I always harbored a little resentment that I never flew Lockheed Aircraft's creation that became known as the "Dragon Lady." Finally this week I was able to scratch that itch, a little, and spent a short time attempting to fly the modern version of the U-2, albeit in its pilot training flight simulator. The U-2 (or TR-1) of today is not the same airplane that I would have flown in 1965. Over the years it has grown some 40 percent in size, has flight instruments upgraded, now powered by a new and vastly improved engine, new sensor suites, new communication including satellite capabilities and more. It is imminently flexible to being adapted to constantly evolving needs for information.

When I hopped in the cockpit we were already flying at 70,000 feet and still climbing. Instead of flying a flight level, there isn't much traffic at those altitudes, the procedure is to fly a constant Mach number (Mach being a percentage of the speed of sound) in this case M.715 and let the aircraft drift higher as fuel is burned off.

I found the airplane had a tendency to gently roll to the right and then left probably due to the extremely long skinny wings. The designer, Kelly Johnson, incorporated surplus control wheels out of his famous P-38s and I found it quite natural to stop the gentle wing wag. Actually the most difficult task for me in flying the airplane was trying to figure out the instrument symbology in the high-tech "glass cockpit." In the modern display, the information that a pilot needs to fly and navigate is all displayed on three computer screens. I just had a little problem figuring what I needed to look at to get the cue I needed at the moment.

During the short time that I was in the simulator the airplane was all stabilized flying straight and level. I didn't get a chance to try to keep everything corralled at the higher altitudes where the limiting Mach and indicated airspeed get real close so a couple knots too slow the airplane stalls and a couple knots fast then bad things happen when lift gets distorted from the effects of supersonic airflow. I also didn't get to experience the thrill of trying to land the beast where a knot or two too fast and it bounces like a bucking horse or a knot or two too slow and she slams down hard on the runway. I also missed out on the fantastic acceleration on takeoff where 17,000 pounds of thrust will accelerate the 40,000 pound bird to airborne in less than 1,000 feet ground roll into a climb that looks to be 45 degrees nose high.

I also will admit that I didn't miss too much the pain from sitting confined to a small cockpit, dressed in a full pressure NASA style space suit, for over 10 hours. Then too the young men, and women, who pilot today's U-2s, fly over territory inhabited by people with unfriendly intentions towards the United States. Some also possess weapons that just might reach out and touch the unarmed and undefended aircraft. The good guys motto: "Alone and Unafraid" but it is a brutal environment there in the extreme altitudes where their business is conducted. Yes, that is part of the essential business of collecting reconnaissance information on the activities of our enemies and potential enemies throughout today's world. Remember our U-2s do not fly spy missions over the United States. In fact it took special Presidential permission to over-fly New Orleans and film the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to assist in that massive rescue effort.

I do want to honor the men and women that fly the U-2 today by speaking in their behalf. They are currently spending some 250 days a year gone from home doing their very essential mission of collecting intelligence information. For me it was a chance to get a little relief from a long time itch but for the pilots assigned to the U-2 it is a 24/7 year around task. I consider each of them my heroes!

The reason that I had a chance to touch the U-2 this week was a reunion in Sacramento, Calif. Ann and I joined a circle of "has been" warriors that flew our KC-135s logging combat hours in the theatre of conflict we knew simply as Vietnam. Reunions are dynamic interesting events because we get a chance to reflect that we, too, were once young and brave. Now we are gray haired, if any remains, a little more saggy shaped but we also remember and honor those who served and didn't return, those whose health failed along the way, spouses that are gone and have been exchanged. It was a chance to celebrate lives well lived

I feel fortunate to stay in touch with today's Air Force. The personnel don't complain, at least to me, but I find it distressing to see many signs of a lack of money to support today's operations. The U-2 Squadron Commander had only himself and one administrative assistant to look after his pilots and mission support personnel. I had a staff of four clerks in my KC Squadron. Efficiency is fine and to be encouraged but starving is not good. I have a gut feeling that the whole U-2 operation will join the F-22 on the budget chopping block in the near future. It seems to be popular to "save money" from the defense department budget so that today's administration can turn around and blow it on pet "social programs."

I fear for a future that probably will not include our adaptable eye in the sky that can only be carried by the manned platform that is the modern U-2.

That is the way I saw it.