Lockheed U-2
Lockheed · United States · first flew 1955 · reconnaissance aircraft
The Cold War high-altitude spy plane — a single-engine reconnaissance aircraft with enormous, glider-like straight wings.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Slim fuselage with a single fuselage-buried engine |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Extremely long, thin, straight glider-like wings
- Slim fuselage with a single fuselage-buried engine
- Bicycle landing gear and a high-altitude reconnaissance profile
Nothing else has wings this long and thin relative to a slender fuselage — it looks like a powered sailplane, balancing on bicycle landing gear with wingtip skids.
Specifications
- The Lockheed U-2 has a length of 19.2 m (63 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 31.4 m (103 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 821 km/h (510 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Designed by Lockheed's Kelly Johnson and first flown in 1955, the U-2 'Dragon Lady' cruises above 70,000 feet for long-endurance surveillance. Later models were enlarged substantially over the original airframe, and the type remains in USAF service decades on.
Variants
Major marks include the original U-2A, the enlarged U-2R, the TR-1 tactical version and the modern, re-engined U-2S.
Where you'll see it
U-2s have long operated from RAF Fairford and RAF Mildenhall on operational deployments, so they are occasionally seen over the UK and at RIAT.
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