Take a quick look at the Great American Eclipse flight from beginning to end
A sad day is approaching. One day in the not-too-distant future, the last Dragon Lady will make a tail-wheel first landing, taxi in, shut down, and never fly again.
As the plan stands now, the last flight of a U-2 Dragon Lady will be in the year 2026. The last students are already making their way through the training process. Several U-2s have already taken their last flight, as they’re not going to conduct the overhauls needed as they approach a certain number of hours.
Some might applaud this as a sign of progress. Maybe say something like “Well it’s old, and there’s OBVIOUSLY something better waiting, we just don’t know about it”. It’s fine if people want to live in that world but I’m a bit more pessimistic.
Most people don’t know how the Armed Services really work. The individual services, like the Air Force, provide the equipment and people to the combatant commanders, like CENTCOM, who use those assets to carry out whatever objectives need to be completed. The Air Force doesn’t fight wars, the combatant commanders do. For years, the Air Force has been trying to kill the U-2 in favor of newer, shinier toys. Each time, the 4-star combatant commanders have gone to Congress and said, “You can’t take my U-2. It’s too valuable. Not until you have something that can replace it.”
This has been codified as policy but now the Air Force has successfully lobbied to have a waiver signed and the divestment of the U-2 is underway. There have been some signs that some member of Congress aren’t totally onboard with this and things could change. Get involved with your Congressman and let them know your concerns. I do think it’s a problem if we willing give up capability with no assurance of our ability to provide reliable info to our allies in the future.
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1 month ago
Eclipse Fever Hit the US again. I did not partake in the festivities this round. I’m in 777 training for a month and had a short break so I spent it with the family instead.
Besides, I don’t think I can top checking out a total solar eclipse from the cockpit of a U-2 Dragon Lady. This was August 21st, 2017, somewhere over northern Oregon. Months, and in some cases, years had gone into planning to do that flight.
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, then you’ve probably seen the article I wrote in the Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine shortly after that flight and you’ll know that, despite the planning, things didn’t go quite as planned. I still managed some one-of-a-kind footage and got some pretty neat pictures. You can read that article, plus a little more inside information on my website: ExtremeRoss.com
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2 months ago
âť“âť“#whereisextreme
Ok, the last few #whereisextreme seemed to stump a lot of people. Here's one I suspect some will know right off the bat. Give location and aircraft (those that have followed this for awhile probably can guess)
Head over to ExtremeRoss.com for more
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5 months ago
Sometimes nature pulls off some interesting sites. Formed from steady directional winds and convective activity, small cumulus clouds form into perfect rows called cloud streets (or horizontal convective rolls for the meteorology nerds) . These went on for hundreds of miles. Just another reminder of what a privilege and joy it was to fly this beast for 14 years.
Find more at ExtremeRoss.com
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5 months ago
🛫 Taking off at 2010's Air Power Day, Osan Air Base, South Korea. This was a high speed climb after accelerating low to the ground. The U-2 gets hard to control the higher the indicated airspeed. This is a pull up at a little over 200 knots. Normal climbout would be between 130 and 160 knots.
There was a speed limitation with the flaps neutral so there was a switch to shift the flaps up into a negative position. Called Gust Up, this aerodynamically reduced the stress on the horizontal stabilizer that normally occurs at higher speeds. I hit this switch shortly after liftoff and then start trimming the nose down. The acceleration is so quick when at full thrust and no climb that the hydraulic trim actuator that moves the horizontal stabilizer can hardly keep up with it. Then the pull up has to be smooth to keep from over G'ing the jet.
At the time, I was the Assistant Director of Operations at the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron. I was also one of the designated demo pilots. Working at the 5th was awesome but also a crap load of work. Proud to have been 5th RS Blackcat.
#IYAABYAS #blackcats #extremerossphotography #thepilotnetwork #aviationphotography #u2dragonlady #usairforce #u2driver @airandspacemuseum #extremeross #lockheed #stratosphere #avgeek #instaviation #aviation_lovers #aviationdaily #u2spyplane @theaviationist #instaaviationphotography #aviationlovers #niceview #niceviews #planespotter @eaa @aviationweek @thepilotnetwork #u2dragonladypilot #pilot #picoftheday #pilotpics #sunsets_captures #eclipses #beautifulworld_pics1 #beautifulworld @full_disc_aviation @combat_learjet @pilotstuff
6 months ago
🔥🔥Two cans are lit and the nozzles open. It's an early morning launch from runway 33 at Beale AFB. The small afterburning flame of the T-38A was normally not visible unless it was in this kind of low light condition. Most of the T-38 pilots at Beale, which included all the active U-2 pilots stationed at Beale, plus the small group of T-38 only instructor pilots, weren't qualified to land at night since it would be an extra currency you'd have to maintain, and the T-38 never really had a mission that required night training.
Interestingly, the afterburner was generally used only for takeoff and some emergency situations like stall recovery. The pilot brings the throttle out of burner shortly after liftoff. The full afterburner uses 4 times the gas as the engine uses in just normal full power (called military, or mil power). Leaving the afterburner going would run the T-38 out of it's JP-8 fuel in about 15 minutes. The afterburner was also not all or none. The throttle has a range from full afterburner back to min burner, then you would bump it back past a small friction stop and into mil power.
Find out about the U-2, T-38, and more at ExtremeRoss.com
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6 months ago
🌍❓#WhereIsExtreme
My last WhereIsExtreme was a little hard and took some hints (it was a T-38 over Lake Chelan, Washington State by the way). I’m hoping this one might be a little easier (at least for some of my more distant followers). Name the location and aircraft (which you already know I’m sure).
Find more at ExtremeRoss.com
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6 months ago
⚡️🌩️ I’ve managed to tick off a number of bucket list aerial photo items through the years. Capturing the Northern Lights, an eclipse, different climates all over the world, etc.
My current “white whale” is to get a good lightning image from the air. As a photographer, it eats at you when you “see” an awesome sight, but can’t ever seem to capture it correctly. Add to that, you see someone else’s really cool lightning photo they got from the air on the internet and you’re like WTF. I’ve seen some phenomenal light shows but either didn’t have the equipment or know-how at the time.
One time before I got into photography, I was in a U-2 orbit in Afghanistan that had me sitting directly over a large line of thunderstorms at night. It was like standing on the world’s biggest disco floor, with flashes going off several times per second all around me. Even though I was a good 25,000 feet over the storm, it was still a little unnerving being there. And I always wished I had been able to capture that somehow.
This shot is getting there but doesn’t quite tick off the bucket list. It’s a storm I passed by in a 737 on a red-eye to Cancun. Usually lightning hunters rely on longer exposures which are not really possible in a moving airplane. And you could never be quick enough to snap the shutter when you see a flash. It’s already over. So you continuously shoot, and shoot, and shoot, and wait. And every time you do that, the lightning dies down, until the second you stop shooting, then it picks back up. The struggle is real. One day, perhaps it will all come together.
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7 months ago
🌎❓❔#WhereIsExtreme
Just taking a casual stroll down this scenic place. Name the location and aircraft
See more at ExtremeRoss.com
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7 months ago
🛫🚀Throwback Thursday
This is the first time I ever videoed a U-2 takeoff from the cockpit. It was 2006 and I slapped a Canon Powershot SD300 to the mirror with some rubber bands. I always love the sound of the GE F118 engine pumping 17,000 pounds of thrust out of this ~ 25,000 pound machine.
The rocket like acceleration gets you airborne in about 400 feet then easily pushes you up, climbing at over 10,000 feet per minute. It’s an unforgettable ride from the first time I did it in my interview in 2004, to the last time in the space suit in 2019.
See more about the incredible Dragon Lady at ExtremeRoss.com
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7 months ago
🫡 Celebrate Veterans #VeteransDay
Today, in the US, we celebrate those people who made a decision to sign a document where we promised to give our life, if that’s what is required, to preserve our nation, it’s interests, and our way of life. Unlimited liability is a pretty weighty subject for most people to tackle, much less a shaky 18 year old, just a kid by many standards.
Still the weight of that promise forges a bond that echoes back through time, linking to the first people who decided that there is something greater than their own security, something truly worth laying down their life in service to. God, country, king….the external reasons are numerous. But the human reason we make that promise can almost always be boiled down to this: a wish for a brighter, more peaceful sunrise, that we are willing to never see.
I’m honored to share a lineage of service, from my grandfather, father, brother and numerous cousins. The ones I personally served with are a minute fraction of those that decided to show up. And I don’t want to forget my friends we call allies, who answered the same call, serving a different country but the same ideal. I have flown with them, worked missions with them, drank, laugh, and cried together. Many around the world will honor the fallen Nov 11th for #RemembranceDay. To me, it is a stark reminder that we are stronger together.
So celebrate that veteran, celebrate that bond, celebrate the promise that through the darkest of times, some will stand up and give it all for the light.
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7 months ago
#WhereIsExtreme
Getting a god’s eye view of the world never disappoints. Can anyone pinpoint this area of the world?
See more from the world of High Flight over at ExtremeRoss.com
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7 months ago