I had to get the aircraft back to the airfield before the VIPs lost interest. I made a quick stall check at 10,000 feet to ensure that both wings stalled symmetrically and that the wing tank fuel was balanced evenly. Back in gust control with landing gear down and airbrakes out for maximum drag, I brought the bird down at 220 knots indicated airspeed. I made checks for a FCLP touch and go using the USN deck landing mirror system set up on our runway.
On finals at 90 knots with flaps at 50 degrees, the mirror “meatball” was picked up and held as a glide path reference. I slowly reduced airspeed to 82 knots as I approached the runway threshold. At about 20 feet the USN Landing Safety Officer (LSO) called “Cut One” at which point I retarded the throttle to idle. Moments later the LSO called “Cut Two” and I activated the spoilers. I eased back on the yoke a little further and the bird stalled at about a foot above the runway. Simultaneously the aircraft settled onto the twin main gear wheels and the solid rubber tail wheels. Now the fun started! I had to keep the wings level for the touch and go without the aid of the pogos by using deft aileron movements. With speed brakes retracted, flaps raised to take off position and elevator trim reset, the throttle was opened slowly to takeoff power. This time in a sedate fashion, I turned downwind for a final full stop landing.
I made the final landing again from a standard mirror approach with the LSO calling height above the runway from the mobile chase vehicle. Instead of using the speed brakes this time, I deployed the tail parachute at a foot or so above the runway. The U-2 immediately slowed and settled on to the runway. Thanks to a light headwind, I rolled quickly to a stop, wings level and tips off the ground. The ground crew refitted the pogos, and with one man sitting on each wing to keep the wings bent down slightly to ensure that the pogos made contact with the runway, I taxied the U-2 back to the ramp.
In the climb, the view ahead is nonexistent. Pitch attitude is obtained from peripheral vision with much time spent looking at the airspeed, RPMs and the turbine gas temperature (TGT). Watching the TGT was critical to limit the increased hot temperature allowed at that particular high power setting and avoiding damage to the engine. The controls felt decidedly slack as the U-2 sat in a close vertical attitude on 17,000 pounds of thrust. The aircraft went up quickly, but came down slowly. It was like a glider, and had little drag. Landings required full attention to detail as the undercarriage track is less than a metre. The U-2 requires a two-point “tail dragger” style attitude at touchdown to avoid porpoising back into the air. Popping the drag chute just above the runway at one foot set up a perfect landing attitude.
As I reflected on my U-2 experience some 40 years later, I am extremely happy I was a young pilot in my 20s at the time these demos were flown. Very few had the opportunity to experience the overwhelming feeling of sheer power, spectacle and fun, unlikely to be permitted these days.
Richard (Dick) Cloke
Royal Air Force
King's Lynn, Norfolk, England
Wife: Gillyan
I joined the Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (Provisional) 4 at Edwards North Base towards the end of l967 and I started flying the U-2 early in 1968. I think I was the first Brit not to check out at Davis Monthan. My conversion was all conducted on North Base's 6,000-foot runway.
Now for some highlights (and the lows).
On an early transition flight with full fuel, I flew one of our older C models known to buffet at altitude. Sure enough it happened to me and instinctively, I throttled back far enough to cause a flameout, the only one I ever had.
On another C model flight while at altitude, I punched in the next heading and started to complete the green card. As I wrote, the autopilot tripped out. When I looked up, I had about 120 degrees of bank. I recovered without too much difficulty. After landing, the camera boys were surprised to see the unusual view of the sun in the tracker camera.
During “tropical” tests on the new R model at McCoy AFB, we had a lot of problems with the liquid oxygen system. I believe it was because the system was taken from the SR-71. We didn't have the skin heating factor, and, as a result, the oxygen gauge was prone to give erroneous readings. There's nothing like the oxygen showing zero to make 70,000 feet seem a very long way up. Returning from one of these tests, I let down, dumped fuel and ran into a wave of thunderstorms. I had difficulty finding McCoy in the heavy rain (Florida does not look anything like the Mojave!) and finally landed with only 15 gallons of fuel remaining. That was close.
Left to right: Andy Cumming (flight surgeon), Harry Drew (pilot), Dick Cloke (pilot and detachment commander) and Rod Booth (flight planner).
In October 1969 I flew an R model from North Base to Kinloss, Scotland. About half way into the 12-hour flight, I turned my head to the left and my helmet locked in that position. I later learned a ball bearing had broken and jammed. The next few hours were very interesting, especially when it came to landing in typical Scottish weather of heavy rain and wind. It was a bit inconvenient with one's head stuck half left!
Later two of us Brits ferried U-2s from Upper Heyford, UK direct to North Base. My flight lasted 13 hours 55 minutes. With pre-breathing time added, plus a 30-minute hold on the runway waiting for the weather to clear for takeoff, we spent well over 16 hours in our pressure suits, half again as long as usual.
One special highlight was the carrier qualification. We had T2 training at Pensacola Naval Air Station, and mirror landing practice at North Base. We carried out our qualification aboard the aircraft carrier, USS America, a day after the Lockheed test pilot qualified the R model. The training must have been spot on because the carrier work was really straightforward.
In December 1968 I was climbing out of Edwards North Base for a high level sortie when there was a loud bang and the canopy disappeared. To cut a long story short, I dumped fuel and landed on the lake bed because the aircraft had developed an unusual heavy wing. At touchdown the yoke was at 90 degrees to the normal position. Subsequent investigation revealed that one transfer pump had stuck in the ‘on’ position, continually transferring fuel to one wing. What I should have done was to dump all my wing fuel until only the collector tank fuel remained. At the time, I wondered whether the canopy had caused any airframe damage, although an airborne check did not reveal any signs of damage.
Dick Cloke in the cockpit of the U-2R at Edwards North Base, approximately 1969.
The subsequent inquiry concluded that the canopy was not locked correctly at takeoff, though my Mobile Officer and I were absolutely certain that it was.
Thirty years later, I had retired from the RAF, and was working for British Aerospace. In April 1999 I received a phone call out of the blue from a USAF major in Korea. He was conducting an inquiry into the loss of a U-2 canopy in flight, and had somehow learned of my experience. It happened that my loss of a U-2 canopy in flight was the first such loss, and over the years there had been several similar incidents, as well as incidents during pressurization checks on the ground. Modifications were recommended as a result, but exoneration was 30 years late as far as I was concerned! Ah well …
Republic of China
Air Force U-2 Pilots
Republic of China Air Force U-2 Pilots
Through an agreement between the Republic of China and the United States, the USAF trained ROCAF pilots to fly the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. Laughlin AFB at Del Rio, Texas and later Davis Monthan AFB at Tucson, Arizona trained the pilots from Taiwan. The training experience for the Chinese pilots was a combination of exposure to a new aircraft, new culture and for some, most significantly, a new language. The U-2 was a difficult aircraft for the best of pilots to master and for an added challenge, all training material was in English. Due to the ROCAF pilots’ culture to present a positive appearance, they would often reply “yes” when asked by their USAF instructors if they understood the material.
A local school principal in Del Rio met weekly with the Taiwanese pilots to help improve their English skills and their understanding of American slang. The C
hinese pilots were told that local citizens thought they were Hawaiian. USAF families “adopted” many of the ROCAF pilots and introduced them to American traditions and customs.
The following ROCAF pilots trained in the U-2 aircraft and returned to Taiwan where they flew reconnaissance missions for their own country.
Shi Chu (Gimo) Yang
Huai Sheng Chen
Tai Yu (Tiger) Wang
Chih Yao Hua
Hsi Chun (Mike) Hua
Chang-di (Robin) Yeh
Lee Nan (Terry) Ping
Liang The Pei
Li Yi (Jack) Chang
Hui Chia Yang
Chen Wen (Pete) Wang
Tse Shi (Charlie) Wu
Jai Chuang (Terry) Liu
Ching Chang (Mickey) Yu
Jen Liang (Spike) Chuang
Rung Pei (Tom) Hwang
Chung Li (Johnny) Shen
Tao (Tom) Wang
Peo Wei (David) Lee
Denny Huang
Chen (Joe) Wei
Chu Chien
Hung Ti (Andy) Fan
Hseih (Billy) Chang
Mike Chu
Chris I
Mory Tsai
Gen Lee Po Wei (David).
ROCAF T-33 squadron. Top row, far right, Robin Yeh.
Major General Jude B.K. Pao with P-51 Mustang.
Black Cat pilots. Left to right: Simon Chien, Chris I, Bob Birkett (USAF), Tom Wang, Mike Chu, Joe Wei and Mory Tsai.
Andy Fan.
Mory Tsai standing by U-2.
Colonel Tom Wang
Johnny Shen, Chih Yao-Hua, Tom Wang, David Lee, Andy Fan.
Mike Chu.
Robin Yeh with General Chiang Kai Shek.
Andy Fan.
Black Cats.
Black Cat pilots, left to right: Johnny Shen, Tom Wang, Gimo Yang, Spike Chun, Tiger Wang, Andy Fan, Terry Liu, Denny Hung.
Standing, left to right: David Lee, Terry Liu, Johnny Shen, Spark Chung, Denny Hwong. Seated, left to right: Tech Rep, Andy Fan, Bob Erickson, Tiger Wang.
General I. Fu-En with Mory Tsai.
Left to right: unknown, Jack Chang, David Lee, Robin Yeh, Mory Tsai.
Black Cat pilots, U-2 in background. Left to right: Joe Wei, Mike Chu, Tom Wang, Simon Chien, Mory Tsai, Bob Birkett (USAF).
1990 ROCAF Reunion for Robin Yeh and Jack Chang, seated in middle row; Gimo Young is center in dark jacket.
2005 4080th SRW Reunion, left to right: Mory Tsai, Jack Chang, Robin Yeh and Andy Fan.
2005 4080th SRW Reunion, left to right: Robin Yeh, Jack Chang, Margaret Hua, Mike Hua, Chris I, Keiko Yeh, Pauline I, Robert (Gimo) Yang, Helen Shen, Andy Fan, Mory Tsai, Johnny Shen, Joe Wei.
Recommended Reading
Bromley, Linda Rios, Freedom Flight, A True Story of a Republic of China Air Force U-2 Pilot, (Solihull, UK: Helion & Company, to be published in 2012)
Davis, Larry, Perry Manley & Don Greer, U-2 Spyplane in Action (Aircraft No 86) (Carrollton TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1988)
O'Leary, Michael & Eric Schulzinger, Black Magic: America's Spyplanes, Sr-71 and U-2 (Osceola WI: Motorbooks International, 1989)
Pocock, Chris, The U-2 Spyplane: Toward the Unknown, A New History of the Early Years (Atglen PA: Schiffer, 2004)
Polmar, Norman, John D. Gresham & Tom Clancy, DEFCON-2: Standing on the Brink of Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis (Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006)
eBooks published by Helion & Company
In the Fire of the Eastern Front. The Experiences of a Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer on the Eastern Front 1941-45
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Remembering the Dragon Lady: The U-2 Spy Plane: Memoirs of the Men Who Made the Legend Page 50
