USAF’s venerable U-2 spy plane is fascinating to observe both taking off and landing. But to experience that activity at night – well, it’s something special.
Awhile back, I visited Beale AFB near Sacramento, California, for a series of Forbes stories about operations there (links below). The military base is home to the venerable U-2 and a fleet of T-38 fighter jets, among other things U.S. Air Force.
My visit to Beale this time would be different: To take an actual high-altitude flight in the backseat of a U-2, a rare opportunity for civilians – or anyone, for that matter. Show time for me is scheduled for next week.
The U-2, of course, is the U.S. spy plane that’s been in operation since the late 1950s. In 1960, pilot Gary Powers, while spying at more than 70,000 feet above the former Soviet Union, was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile.
Powers managed to eject and survive, but was imprisoned in the USSR for two years.
