Lockheed ER-2 (N806NA)

I used to work one o' these out of KEFD at Houston Center. FL 550, doing "high altitude research", in quotes, just for all the "chem trail" conspiracy theorists out there, lol. He was leaving all kinds of weird contrail patterns up there and when I left work I could see it, it was wild. The number of phone calls from the public...:-) :-)

Great pic Mason..........

Interesting comment Keith

NASA shure has a big nag of toys

I see two wheels, one amidship and the other at the tail. How does this aircraft land, please?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inEQBAzWX_M

that is one ugly aircraft.

@D Chinn The aircraft uses the gear you see, plus a pair of out-rigger wheels mounted roughly mid-wing.

Nice paint job. I was only around the ones they didn't want you to see.

Thanks to those who answered.

Pretty interesting watching this landing; the flap work and body brakes, like balancing on a tightrope. Someone's going to be busy managing all that. For take-off, the outriggers are discarded during take-off In a windy take-off this would be very interesting and complex, especially if the controls were (or even if they were) automated.

Take-off and quick jettison of the outriggers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drigGcSE29w

@Jay: haven't you heard: Form Follows Function?

Well, this brings back some memories. I recall where I was when I heard the news that Gary Powers had been shot down over Sverdlovsk in an aircraft that was so super-secret,that nobody knew what it was. We werent sure whether WW III was about to commence or not. President Eisenhower had a “peace conference” cancelled and allowed Nikita Nikita Khrushchev lots of television time.

The Gary Power's U-2A (Dragon Lady) is shown here:

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195974/lockheed-u-2a/

Thanks Ken!

For anyone asking how the U2 lands, I suggest watching a video on YouTube. It is very interesting! Thanks everybody for the kind words!

"Flights of Fantasy Aftershow | MythBusters”:

can be viewed on Youtube. Mythbusters also ran an episode when Adam got to ride along in a U-2. I recall seeing the episode on the series, but I don’t know if it’s available now. It was very interesting, and typically, “Mythbusters”.

Also, I have read that the spread between max speed and stall was something like 10-12 knots. Combined with no auto-pilot, this would make for a stressful flight, especially since some of those flights could be 8 hours.

When working at NASA AMES, you could set your watch to the exact min of launch/takeoff.