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The U-2, glider-meets-fighter-jet planes, are incredibly difficult to land due to their massive wingspan, tiny bicycle wheels and the fact that a pilot on a real mission may have spent 10 hours in flight, much of it at up to 70,000 feet in the air.
Therefore a mobile pilot, who trails the plane at up to 140 mph and guides the aerial pilot to ground, is required.
Here, Lieutenant Colonel Scott acts as a mobile pilot during a training flight at Beale Air Force Base, the only U-2 training ground in the world.
U-2s are the highest-flying vessels after space rockets, and therefore pilots must wear airtight flight suits that weigh upward of 35 pounds.
NASA uses the same design, originally developed by the military for U-2 pilots, for space suits.
During the interview process, student pilots must suit up and sit alone for 45 minutes to ensure they are psychologically stable enough to endure the extended period of isolation and minimal mobility.
Less than 1,000 U-2 pilots have been trained since the plane’s creation in 1955.
Photos: Ken James Captions: Allison Joy
Flight Chasers
Flying, and landing, the U-2 is no easy task