U-2 Chase Cars - Chasing The U-2 'Dragon Lady' On Runway

USAF U-2s taking off from Beale Air Force Base and landing at RAF Fairford before taking off again.
The U-2 'Dragon Lady' aircraft was originally designed to fly high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions during the Cold War to gather intelligence on opposition forces. Today, the U-2S flies in support of a variety of missions from ground combat to disaster relief. A “mobile” follows behind the aircraft in a chase car to assist the pilot with altitude and position calls. Mobiles are U-2 pilots who assist during taxi, takeoff and landing.
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[@pjcsmo]

I had the opportunity to ride shotgun in a U-2 chase car at RAF Alconbury in 1988. The views were different as it was getting pretty dark, and went by so quickly. Thanks for the opportunity ti watch it a few more times!!

[@doggonemess1]

Racing a car to follow a landing aircraft. That is so badass.

[@CULatte]

Simon Whistler sent me

[@AirWolfAT6]

@C B F for Danny. Doesn't look like the rescue succeeded.

[@Bench485]

bahaha me 2

[@collinwinter6210]

Me too

[@VigilanteAgumon]

James May brought me here

[@DerelictDan69]

I love the U2 mad respect for the pilots. Prolly the hardest plane to fly low altitude.

[@digitalsiler]

with that wingspan, it's probably easier

[@BlunterSales]

Wrong, im pretty sure these pilots have to intentionally stall the plane to land it because the wings generate too much lift at high speeds, you can see the lift generated take place right at 1:40@@digitalsiler

[@digitalsiler]

@@BlunterSales that's what I was getting at big wings = more lift

[@digitalsiler]

@BlunterSales and being the air is thinner at higher altitudes like 60K+ Ft you'd need to generate more lift

[@BlunterSales]

Right. But we're speaking low altitude@@digitalsiler

[@LazyScoutJace]

Never realized how loud they are :)

[@bez750]

Megaprojects bought me here

[@aviator2961]

Me too

[@ThousandManx]

Same! Lol

[@AirWolfAT6]

Basically a giant jet powered glider

[@thatvolvoguy6565]

So pretty much a plane

[@ItsKibet]

The U2 howls just like the Vulcan

[@ozgruntsyd4281]

0:40 A bit of Australian V8 muscle! A Holden Commodore/ Pontiac GTO.

[@Calmy517]

That’s a dream car of mine. When they’re cammed man they sound amazing

[@nicksalvatore5717]

That's not flying, that's falling with style!

[@jacobrzeszewski6527]

It’s called a “controlled crash landing”.

[@SycoSight]

trying to race against a u2 in a charger? sounds cool af

[@obsgr1]

Pontiac/Holden Commodore.

[@harrisonschmidt7596]

great video!

[@spreadeagled5654]

That grand old “Dragon Lady” keeps on ticking! 🇺🇸👍

[@woodywoods7958]

I've had a couple friends who got to ride shotgun helping these land. Luckily Beale's only a few miles down the road, so I get to see all kinds of stuff fly out of there.

[@madfury3179]

The video doesn't show what happens when the plane stops, does it fall on one of its wingtips, like a glider does?

[@LIV3backwards]

Yes it does, and yes they definitely should have shown it. Don't know what they were thinking.

[@benitollan]

+Child Like they were thinking how to make a plane fly so damn high in 1955, that's all they could do. And it's not the only funny thing about the U-2, I read at its flight ceiling, it's stall speed is a very narrow margin away from its maximum speed, so a little pilot lapsus could mean losing a lot of altitude.

[@LIV3backwards]

Benito Llan Matos I meant that I didn't know what the videographers/editors were thinking not including the point at which the plane tips over on it's wing.

[@benitollan]

I forgot my medication sorry :P

[@Lizard280Gaming]

I remember seeing a video, which I believe came from AiirSource, which had the U-2 landing, when it stopped it fell onto one wing, they fitted the landing gear to the wing in the air, then loads of men hung from the other wing to pull it down as they fitted the opposite side gear, I'll keep looking for it ;)

[@riedjacobsen8620]

Do take offs and landings in the U-2 count as tailwheel tme?

[@Kid574]

HA! I always thought the little gears by the wings would retract... i obviousy was wrong :D

[@LittleScientist2011]

they got dropped on take off

[@LittleScientist2011]

they got dropped on take off

[@LittleScientist2011]

they got dropped on take off

[@Karuiko]

they got dropped on take off

[@perlyg]

i'm surprised it can balance on two gears

[@hassansyed101]

i like the audi towards the end of the video

[@kathie9823]

The Air Force's "biggest smallest" plane. Fun fact: some of the pilots for U2's served in another branch before "retiring" to join the AF just in the hopes of flying a U2.

[@iTube2772]

This system throws all my dispositions about runway safety out of the window. What is the mechanism to make sure that the side wheels DO fall off during take off roll, and how are they not a risk to the chase car just a few meters behind at a hundred miles an hour?

[@bobjohn2000]

Chase cars don't usually operate on the takeoff roll

[@adt4624]

Wyvern is a nice name for this plane because the landing gear reminds me of a wyvern.

[@VigilanteAgumon]

There was already the Westland Wyverm back in the 1950s

[@daddysgirls14]

You telling me the front wheel can have an altimeter and let the pilot know how far of the ground is the wheel.🤯

[@Barty.Crowell]

An old Pontiac G8 chase car is up for auction right now

[@sesses6883]

Dammit, I've been in the crew chief car on way to check a leaking pogo, behind chase car, and U-2 itself on flightline, undisclosed location of course...

[@JonDC70]

🙄

[@travisfaulkner4659]

is it a plane, or is it a jet propulsion mech suit?

[@craigw1379]

They use the same jet engine the F14 used.

[@odemu2074]

It looked like Audi or Bentley! Lol

[@CursedLink666]

When your plane is so tricky to handle, they have to chase it with a car incase something happens.

[@BadgerBadgerBadger28]

Only two planes I’ve ever heard howl are the u2 and the Avro Vulcan

[@emomuzz5883]

Be Advised: this video does not exist. Please continue to enjoy your amusing cat vids.

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

God, I love the Pontiac G8

[@zosometalgod]

They're using Dodge chargers now

[@mtl-ss1538]

@@zosometalgod . In the 1950s the Air Force - and the CIA, which initially ran the U-2 planes - used Ford station wagons but over the years upgraded to newer, faster cars. These included highway patrol-specification Ford Mustangs in the ‘80s and then Pontiacs in the late 2000s. The Pontiacs were replaced in recent years by Tesla Model 3.

[@ProtegeTuype]

Sounds like Vulkan

[@yourbigfan1777]

or B-2

[@spencer6104]

how do you get this job?

[@jerkchickenblog]

learn to kiss ass

[@ZZ-sb8os]

Can I drive? Just once, pretty please?

[@jbrannon509]

I don't know much about the U2, obviously but I would think that with the technology available that a chase car calling out altitude wouldn't be necessary. It's just that last 10 feet until touchdown. Do they do this more for "tradition" or is it just absolutely required to have human eyes behind the plane calling out? It's pretty cool to watch.

[@n25nb]

The cockpit visibility in the U-2 is very poor so they require a chase car to land safely

[@RowanHawkins]

Radar altimeters aren't super accurate at short heights combined with poor visibility from the cockpit. Try this on a flight of stairs. Get a large piece of cardboard and hold it in front of you so you can't see any steps around you. Then walk down the stairs at a normal pace without hand rails. That's what landing the U2 is like. Then have a spotter tell you how many steps you have left and see how much easier it is.

[@solstar4778]

So the car picks up the wheels and landing gear when they fall off ?

[@thedudejsb]

It probably does. I mean someone does have to pick them back up. But the primary purpose of the chase car is to assist the pilot when taking off and landing. Another U2 pilot is in the car and will instruct the pilot inside the aircraft. The visibility inside the U2 is really really limited. Also the plane doesn’t really land, it’s more like a controlled crash. When it reaches 2 feet off the ground it stalls and drops down. That’s what the guy in the car is counting

[@dappa211]

So they couldn't just add a camera for better visibility and a drop down wheels for landing

[@therealsyxx]

@@thedudejsb are you a pilot?

[@thedudejsb]

@@therealsyxx I am not but there are plenty of KZbin videos that explain the same thing that I did.

[@therealsyxx]

@@thedudejsb ohh no I believe you. I was just wondering. Pilots are fascinating. Seems like the greatest job in the world.

[@acefighterpilot]

I just realized the U-2 is a penny farthing.

[@ratandmonkey2982]

what's wrong with a ground facing LIDAR on the plane to measure distance?

[@mr.smithsgovermentclass4556]

Probably Wright requirements

[@shadowbanned3716]

Military technology makes the greatest testament to the intelligence of some of our best and brightest. The united states puts the most effort of any country to succeed in military superiority. We have watched technology slowly grow over the decades with some major leaps forward and it leads you to believe that theres a lot we didnt know back in the 1940s and 50s. But when you look at whats come out of the military and see how these engineering marvels like aircraft and the atomic bomb are still used just as they were at their conception, then thats proof that there were people alive that were so creative and intelligent that they actually built the best possible machine decades ahead of their time. These inventions werent something "good enough" to stay ahead of the curve. Rather they are designed as if someone had a looking glass to see forward into time and utilize every possible scientific principle to make something that simply cannot be any better, even with advancements in technology. The apple i phone is now thousands of times mote powerful and useful than its first iteration but the u2 spyplane is the same aircraft in principle as it was a lifetime ago. You see this with inventions like firearms as well. The m16 and its direct gas inpingment operation is something that came out of a world where we would manually actuate the bolt to feed the rounds. And here we are today and even though there are different ways to achieve the same function and slight add ons and improvements to ergonomics and sighting. The basic principle of the firearm just works exaclty as it should and any attempt to add any steps to its function cannot ultimately improve what eugene stoner originally conceived, with no one to show him or tell him what to do. He just made it and it works.

[@jerkchickenblog]

or its evidence of the great waste and laziness of times since. we SHOULD be coming up with better stuff all the time. we are surrounded by mediocrity

[@jerkchickenblog]

and comparing computer tech like the iphone to aeronautics and munitions is goofy. they don't progress on the same scale at all.

[@alright392]

Why they need to chase them?

[@jerkchickenblog]

because the pilot can't see shit to land

[@hamlettelmah441]

A6 the only car to chase the U-2 with. MSRP 48,000+ starting. How many we got there? lol

[@Altiveda]

They're not all bought outright, they can be rented at a discounted rate

[@veeseson]

What is with the whiteout transition? Are you trying to trigger an epileptic fit?

[@aserta]

It's 2022 and they still haven't spent the unreal amount of dough they fly through the system to upgrade the U2's landing gear so there's more safety in it? We have some composites and metallurgical processes (both manufacturing and composition) that would've made the original U2 designers DROOL at the prospects... and these guys are just sitting on their asses, playing a gamble every landing. Unreal.