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A comment on U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace. Parent comment

Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by tolien on Sunday December 13, 2020 @07:29PM (#25411987)
Difficult to get it back on the ground without killing yourself too - to the point that the backup pilot drives behind at ~140mph, calling out helpful information [1].

Saw a U-2 at an airshow and somehow I expected more. It had really badly damaged paint and just looked like some neglected museum exhibit that had been left outside too long.

1: https://jalopnik.com/the-140-mph-chase-cars-of-the-u-s-air-f...

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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by cornellwright on Sunday December 13, 2020 @09:53PM (#25413011)
I saw a U-2 at an airshow (California Capitol Airshow at Mather) and it also looked beat up. I asked about it and they said that it's a working airplane, not some show piece. Basically it just had a lot of hours on it since it was last repainted.
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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by TigeriusKirk on Sunday December 13, 2020 @10:36PM (#25413244)
The trainer versions go in and out of Mather fairly often. I assume they're based at Beale AFB and just use Mather for short training hops.
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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by cornellwright on Monday December 14, 2020 @12:55PM (#25420726)
The U2 I saw at Mather was based a Beale (as were the Air Force folks exhibiting it). They said the U2s get rotated in and out of service/training and that this unit had been all over the world.
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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by CalChris on Monday December 14, 2020 @02:32AM (#25414438)
Mather AFB has been closed since 1993.
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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by TigeriusKirk on Monday December 14, 2020 @08:26AM (#25417212)
At which point it became Sacramento Mather Airport, where the trainers fly in and out of from time to time.
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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by meowster on Sunday December 13, 2020 @07:48PM (#25412087)
I've seen a U-2 up-close in-person (it was actually one of NASA's versions). It looked pretty decent. It's pretty basic and bare-bones though: every pound saved off of it equals one foot higher that it can climb.
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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by blackrock on Monday December 14, 2020 @12:53AM (#25414009)
They should get a lighter pilot.
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