- 2 days ago
For educational purposes
From the earliest days of flight the military used aircraft to look behind enemy lines.
After the top secret U-2 was shot down over Russia, Lockheed developed the SR-71.
Flying at Mach 3 near the edge of space, it could outfly missiles.
Featured Aircraft:
- Lockheed U-2 version TR-1A
- SR-71 Blackbird
From the earliest days of flight the military used aircraft to look behind enemy lines.
After the top secret U-2 was shot down over Russia, Lockheed developed the SR-71.
Flying at Mach 3 near the edge of space, it could outfly missiles.
Featured Aircraft:
- Lockheed U-2 version TR-1A
- SR-71 Blackbird
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:01Hi, I'm Neil Armstrong. Join me for an adventure through time.
00:57From the earliest days of flight,
00:59the first military use of aircraft was to look behind enemy lines.
01:04Naturally, the other side tried to prevent this.
01:07So to be out of reach of enemy fire was a prime requisite.
01:12As guns, fighters, and rockets became more sophisticated,
01:16so too became the reconnaissance aircraft.
01:25Reconnaissance is one of the oldest military applications of aircraft.
01:30Tethered balloons were used for the purpose at least as far back as the American Civil War.
01:35Whatever the craft, the enemy has always wanted to do away with those sneaky eyes in the sky.
01:44Tethered kites were used for the same purpose by the ancient Chinese,
01:48and even into the First World War.
01:50The choice was either to hoist a willing human observer aloft, or in this case, a camera.
02:06Airplanes could fly higher and farther,
02:08so the earliest major use of aircraft in World War I was for reconnaissance.
02:14Armed fighters went along, protected the observing aircraft from enemy fire.
02:21The pilots of the aircraft had difficulty remembering exactly what they saw,
02:26because they were busy flying and dodging enemy bullets.
02:30The Germans and the French either installed cameras on the airplanes,
02:34or gave them to the pilots to accurately record detailed information of the battle.
02:56World War I taught lessons to all of the combatants.
03:12Very early in World War II, Germany had a military staff of more than 5,000
03:18and to process and interpret aerial pictures and information.
03:24Britain, on the other hand, was not as well equipped.
03:27Operating photographic missions secretly before the war,
03:31squadron leader Sidney Cotton appointed a new photographic unit,
03:34and added only two Spitfire fighters to his force of Bristol Blenens.
03:39They were fast civil aircraft converted to the fighter-bomber and reconnaissance role.
03:59As the war progressed, great advances were also made
04:02in the resolution and quality of aerial photography.
04:06In World War II, the idea of reconnaissance expanded
04:09to include intelligence gathering by a variety of means,
04:12the interception of enemy documents, radio transmissions,
04:16and the use of espionage.
04:18Most often, fighters and bombers have been adapted to the reconnaissance role.
04:23It's a rare thing for an aircraft to be designed
04:26specifically for the purpose of aerial investigation.
04:36Reconnaissance aircraft became a high priority in the 1950s
04:40when the Soviet Union rejected President Eisenhower's proposal
04:44for an open-air policy.
04:47Working in utmost secrecy, Lockheed developed an aircraft
04:51that could fly higher than anything in the sky.
04:54When Gary Powers had the misfortune of being shot down over Russia,
04:58secrecy was shattered,
05:01and the U-2 became the most famous reconnaissance aircraft ever.
05:13While the U.S. was developing the U-2 in secrecy,
05:16it was using a British high-altitude bomber,
05:19a later version of the 1949 English electric Canberra.
05:23General Dynamics of the U.S. converted the Canberra
05:26to serve as an ultra-high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft
05:31for the U.S. Air Force, calling it the RB-57.
05:35As a tandem two-seat light tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft,
05:40it had a huge 106-foot wingspan
05:43and was powered by two giant Pratt & Whitney T-33 turbofan engines,
05:48which could each develop 18,000 pounds of thrust.
05:54Though it could climb very high,
05:56it had many structural problems,
05:58and there was a definite need for a specialized aircraft.
06:02As the 50s progressed,
06:04Cold War tensions over the nuclear threat from both sides increased.
06:08The Soviet Union was becoming increasingly sensitive about its airspace,
06:12developing higher, faster fighters
06:14to shoot down American intelligence aircraft.
06:20Out of a quest for altitude came the U-2,
06:24the creation of a small team of Lockheed engineers.
06:27This group, led by the legendary aircraft designer Kelly Johnson,
06:32was at the forefront of aircraft design.
06:35Johnson's operation was officially called
06:37the Advanced Development Projects Group,
06:40but just about everyone in government knew it by another name.
06:43When Johnson's engineers had been working on an earlier aircraft,
06:47the acrid fumes from a nearby plastics factory
06:51permeated their Burbank, California offices.
06:53The smell was so foul,
06:55they dubbed their workshop
06:56The Skunk Works.
06:58In almost total secrecy,
07:00some of the most innovative and unusual aircraft ever designed
07:04were created here.
07:06I decided when I was 12 years old
07:09that I wanted to become an airplane designer.
07:13I was encouraged to do this by reading
07:16such books as Tom Swift and his airplane
07:19and Collins' model airplane design.
07:22So from that point on,
07:24I tailored my whole life,
07:26all my career,
07:28toward airplane design.
07:30Johnson took pride in surrounding himself
07:33with talented people
07:34and had designed other military aircraft
07:37as far back as the Second World War,
07:39meeting seemingly impossible deadlines.
07:43The U-2's development
07:44for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
07:46was top secret.
07:48The U stood for utility,
07:50a deception to take attention away from the project.
07:54The U-2's first flight took place
07:56around August 1955
07:58at a remote dry lake in Nevada.
08:01Test pilot Tony Levere was doing taxi tests
08:03when it unexpectedly took off
08:05at just 70 knots.
08:07He had to stall the aircraft to land it.
08:10It was a bird that most definitely wanted to fly.
08:14Early versions of the U-2
08:16reached nearly 15 miles in altitude.
08:20The U-2 began overflights
08:22of the Soviet Union in 1956.
08:25Soviet defenses appeared powerless
08:27to stop the high-altitude bird.
08:30Then on May 1, 1960,
08:33Francis Gary Powers was shot down
08:35by a surface-to-air missile
08:36over the USSR.
08:38The U-2 pilot was captured
08:40and confessed to being a spy.
08:42The thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations
08:45immediately turned cold.
08:52Two years later,
08:53the U-2 would again be involved
08:55in front-page headlines.
08:57It shall be the policy of this nation
08:59to regard any nuclear missile
09:01launched from Cuba
09:03against any nation
09:04in the Western Hemisphere
09:05as an attack
09:07by the Soviet Union
09:09on the United States,
09:10requiring a full retaliatory response
09:13upon the Soviet Union.
09:15The U-2 photos of Cuba
09:17showed missiles
09:18capable of hitting American cities
09:20with nuclear weapons.
09:22The missiles were withdrawn,
09:23which ended one of the most dangerous periods
09:25in U.S.-Soviet relations.
09:32The U-2 lives on in yet another version,
09:35the TR-1,
09:36TR standing for Tactical Reconnaissance.
09:39It became the first aircraft
09:41in U.S. Air Force history
09:42to be put back into production.
09:45The TR-1 has the same look,
09:47but is much larger
09:48and has bigger wings.
09:56The American Space Agency, NASA,
09:58uses two of these remarkable aircraft
10:00for upper atmosphere experiments.
10:02They're called ER-2s,
10:04ER meaning Earth Resources.
10:07NASA uses their ER-2s
10:09to update old maps,
10:10study urban growth,
10:12locate water sources
10:13for cropland analysis,
10:15scanning shorelines,
10:16assessing flood damage,
10:18fighting large forest fires,
10:20and for air sampling missions
10:22like those ER-2s performed
10:24after the eruption of Mount St. Helens
10:26in Washington State.
10:30TR-1As have unbelievable range,
10:33staying aloft for up to 14 hours.
10:36The huge wing pods
10:38carry additional fuel
10:39and can accommodate
10:40a wide range of sensor packages.
10:43Neil had the opportunity
10:45to fly the TR-1A
10:46with Air Force pilot
10:48Captain Jeffrey Gruber.
10:51Jeff, tell me what it is
10:52about the U-2
10:53that makes it unique.
10:56Well, I think the fact
10:57that it's the,
10:58now, since yesterday,
11:0071 has gone,
11:00the only high-altitude
11:01air-breathing aircraft
11:02in the inventory.
11:04And the fact that we,
11:06even during peacetime,
11:07go out and fly
11:07operational missions,
11:08I think,
11:09are its most unique aspects.
11:10We know it's
11:11a high-altitude airplane.
11:12Why don't you first tell me
11:13about how it flies
11:14at high-altitude?
11:15At high-altitude,
11:17actually,
11:17the autopilot
11:18is flying the airplane
11:18because the accuracy
11:20required for the sensors
11:22on board
11:22is very, very,
11:23tight.
11:24It must be very tight.
11:25And the machine
11:26flies better than we do.
11:27So we put it on autopilot
11:28and we simply make sure
11:29it's operating smoothly.
11:31So up high,
11:32the airplane actually
11:33sinks in
11:33and feels more at home.
11:35Very smooth,
11:35smooth,
11:36stable airplane up there.
11:37Designed to fly high.
11:38It sure is.
11:38But we do occasionally
11:40hand fly
11:40and it's extremely
11:41maneuverable at altitude,
11:42which is pretty amazing.
11:53The U-2 presented
11:54enormous challenges
11:55to its creators.
11:56To climb high,
11:57it had to be light.
11:59At the same time,
12:00it had to carry
12:01a heavy fuel load
12:02for long range.
12:03A medium-powered turbojet
12:05is adequate to lift.
12:06The engine can be shut off
12:08so it can glide
12:09and travel long distances.
12:12The U-2
12:12is a sailplane
12:14with a jet engine.
12:24Now,
12:25on the other end,
12:25down low,
12:27how is it down there?
12:28Down low,
12:28it's a real truck.
12:31It flies like a,
12:32for anybody
12:32who's flown a heavy aircraft,
12:34it flies just like a heavy,
12:35although it wouldn't be
12:35categorized as a heavy aircraft.
12:37Very slow roll
12:39and pitch inputs
12:40and responses,
12:41very heavy control forces.
12:43It's all cable pulley,
12:44no hydraulic backups.
12:45Well, some of our
12:45sailplane pilots
12:46will recognize those characters.
12:47But it's even heavier
12:48than the heaviest sailplane
12:49you've ever flown.
12:50I've got a little bit
12:51of KC-135 time
12:53just here and there,
12:53and very similar to that.
12:55In fact,
12:55maybe even heavier.
12:56So it's a very stiff,
12:58heavy,
12:58physical airplane to operate.
14:02This is where you can start
14:03decelerating a little bit.
14:11Coming down
14:12or shorten up
14:13a point just a bit.
14:22On landing,
14:24noted that there was a car
14:27trailing along on the runway.
14:31What's the purpose
14:32of that car?
14:33Well, his,
14:33first of all,
14:34that driver of that car
14:35is a U-2 pilot himself.
14:37That's one of our
14:37additional duties.
14:38It's a 5-liter Mustang.
14:41He's essentially
14:42a safety observer.
14:43And on operational sorties,
14:45he's also your supervisor
14:46of flying.
14:46He's keeping an eye
14:47on the weather,
14:48changes at the airfield,
14:49keeping his pilot
14:51abreast of any changes
14:52going on.
14:52Kind of like the instructor
14:54pilot during a solo flight.
14:57You bet he sure is.
14:58But here in a low sortie,
14:59the mission of that chase car,
15:01and he does enter the runway
15:02with the airplane,
15:03is to call your altitude
15:05from the main gear
15:06to the runway,
15:07starting from 10 feet
15:09and down.
15:10And because it's so critical
15:12in this airplane
15:13to get that tailwheel down
15:14first and land
15:14in a proper attitude
15:15without any crab at all,
15:18he's there to assist
15:19in achieving that goal
15:21in the landing.
15:22We do practice
15:23what we call
15:23no-voice landings
15:24in the final turn.
15:25We'll call base gear down
15:27no-voice,
15:27and he won't make any calls.
15:29So we do practice
15:30because sometimes
15:31the car is spin out
15:32in the rain,
15:32or if you have to divert,
15:33you're obviously
15:33not going to have
15:34a chase car.
15:34But where that guy
15:36really comes into play
15:37is on a 9-hour-plus
15:39operational sortie.
15:40You've been in a spacesuit
15:41the whole time.
15:42You're fatigued.
15:43Your brain is starting
15:45to lose its effectiveness.
15:46You've got 200-foot ceiling
15:48and a half a mile
15:48of visibility
15:49and maximum crosswinds.
15:50You need that little bit
15:52of moral support
15:52to help you get
15:53this particular beast
15:54to the ground,
15:54and that's that guy's role.
15:56Another piece of information.
15:57Sure is.
15:57You betcha.
15:58And I understand
15:59that landing really isn't over
16:01after you've touched down.
16:02Until you're in the chalks,
16:03like any tail-dragger pilot knows.
16:07Shaken by the loss
16:08of the U-2,
16:10Lockheed developed
16:11an aircraft
16:11that could outfly
16:13and outrun
16:14any enemy missile.
16:16Flying at Mach 3,
16:17near the edge of space,
16:19it required new technologies
16:21for virtually every part
16:22of the aircraft.
16:24The project was cloaked
16:26in secrecy.
16:27A difficult task
16:28for a machine so fast,
16:30its test range extended
16:31from California to Florida.
16:37when the U-2
16:38proved vulnerable
16:39to enemy missiles,
16:40Johnson and his team
16:42went back to work.
16:43And what they dreamt up
16:44was the fastest,
16:46highest-flying airplane
16:47ever built,
16:48the SR-71 Blackbird.
16:55President Lyndon B. Johnson
16:56announced its existence
16:57in 1964.
16:59In so doing,
17:00he changed its name.
17:01It had been called
17:03RS-71,
17:05but the president
17:06misspoke.
17:14The SR-71 Blackbird
17:17was either
17:17an airplane designer's
17:18nightmare
17:19or most profound challenge.
17:21The SR-71
17:23was the hardest program
17:26in which I've ever
17:26been involved.
17:28Everything about it
17:29had to be invented.
17:30With an airplane
17:32that has a skin temperature
17:33running to about
17:34600 degrees Fahrenheit
17:36while cruising,
17:37you can roast
17:38a loin of pork
17:39by just hanging it
17:40outside of the canopy
17:41if you want to.
17:44The Blackbird
17:45is capable of speeds
17:46beyond Mach 3,
17:47where speed means heat.
17:49Heat turns the skin
17:51color black.
17:52When the aircraft
17:53is cool,
17:54taxiing out
17:55to the active runway,
17:56it's said to be
17:56operating loose,
17:57which means
17:58its titanium body
17:59leaks JP-7 fuel.
18:02It will be
18:0310 minutes or so
18:04into supersonic flight
18:05before it heats up
18:06enough to expand
18:07its shape,
18:08nearly half an inch,
18:09closing off the leaks.
18:11The Blackbird
18:12takes off with
18:13only a portion
18:14of its fuel.
18:15Minutes later,
18:15it fuels in flight
18:16because its two
18:18Pratt & Whitney
18:19J-58 engines
18:20burn about
18:218,000 gallons
18:22an hour.
18:29And in that hour,
18:30the Blackbird
18:31can cover
18:31100,000 square miles,
18:33taking thousands
18:34of pictures
18:35in the most
18:36minute detail.
18:37It is so fast
18:39that after being
18:40shot at
18:41more than
18:41a thousand times,
18:42no Blackbird
18:44has ever been
18:44caught
18:45by enemy missiles.
18:48Two Blackbirds
18:49fly for NASA
18:50as high-altitude
18:51research laboratories.
18:53Test pilot
18:54Steve Ishmael
18:54has flown
18:55the SR-71,
18:57so we asked him
18:58how it feels
18:58to handle
18:59all that speed.
19:01The feel
19:02of the airplane
19:03is very remarkable
19:05at speed,
19:06like that.
19:07You really feel
19:07like you have
19:08a lot of thrust
19:09available
19:09and that the airplane
19:11is very sturdy.
19:13The SR,
19:15to my way of thinking,
19:16is a very elegant
19:17design.
19:18It has
19:20essentially
19:21full-span
19:22elevons
19:23on the trailing
19:24edge
19:24of the wings
19:26and both rudders
19:27move.
19:28The whole rudder
19:29moves about
19:2980% or so
19:31of its height.
19:32Of course,
19:33the elevons,
19:33they move
19:34differentially
19:34for roll
19:35and they move
19:36symmetrically
19:37for pitch.
19:37That's all
19:38that you have
19:38to control
19:39the flight path
19:39of the airplane
19:40and it does
19:40so quite well.
19:42The control
19:43system on the SR
19:44is conceptually
19:47original equipment.
19:50But the control
19:51system that
19:52implements it
19:52has been updated.
19:54It uses
19:55three digital computers
19:57that both run
19:59the inlets,
20:00the engine,
20:01the spike,
20:02this big spike here,
20:03and the doors
20:04and it runs
20:05the autopilot,
20:06moves the elevon
20:07surfaces
20:07as well as
20:08the rudders.
20:10and the control
20:11laws are very
20:11nice.
20:13Basically,
20:14many times,
20:14the airplane
20:15in normal flight,
20:16it flies itself
20:17on autopilot.
20:19The airplane's
20:20performance now
20:21is its design
20:24point is 3.2
20:25Mach and it
20:27can fly up
20:27to 85,000 feet.
20:29You feel very much,
20:31particularly at
20:31altitude and speed,
20:33you feel like
20:33you can fly
20:35just about
20:36anywhere you want.
20:37And I share
20:38with everybody else,
20:39it's a very
20:39beautiful airplane
20:40to look at.
20:42As a military bird,
20:44the SR-71
20:45has retired.
20:46It is estimated
20:47that the cost
20:48of operating
20:49an SR-71
20:50is about
20:51$250,000
20:52per hour
20:53and so the fleet
20:54was mothballed
20:55in 1989.
20:57The military
20:58reconnaissance role
20:59has been taken
20:59over by satellites
21:00and less glamorous
21:02aircraft
21:02with high-tech
21:03electronic snooping
21:04sensors
21:05and infrared eyes.
21:08On one of its
21:09last flights
21:09for the U.S. Air Force,
21:11the SR-71
21:12Blackbird
21:13set speed
21:14and time records
21:15flying from
21:16Los Angeles
21:16to Washington, D.C.
21:18in 68 minutes,
21:2017 seconds
21:21at an average speed
21:22of 2,112.5
21:26miles per hour.
21:40Join me again
21:41next time
21:41for First Flights.
22:10First Flights.
22:11of WeHard
22:12of WeHard
22:12of WeHard
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