Shut the thread down. We have a winner! :D
It still is weird to look down and see airliners putting out contrails when they’re the same or more distance below you as they are above the ground.
Who cares about the sunshade ! This is so great to have a new dimension added to AvChat, a vertical dimension. I hope that U2Driver continues to enhance our experience in the aviation world.
After that last picture i dont even know if i should be posting...Austin to Chicago and chicago to toronto today. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Cause it just goes to show you that U-2 drivers share some of the same issues as thousands of other pilots in a multitude of aircraft, even in a PA-28-140.
Okay, I know dat. It's just great to have somebody WAY UP THERE talking to us way down here. Pilots are pilots wherever they are flying and that's what's good about it.
We were co-located with the U-2s at Taif, Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. They flew very long and very uncomfortable sorties exceeding 12 hours and were kind of beat when they recovered. During Desert Shield, we had a very large practice mission coming off and our recovery coincided with one of the U-2s recovering from a very long and tiring mission. Unfortunately, when he came on the radio, he did not get much sympathy on needing priority for landing, even though he thoroughly deserved it after who knows how long in a pressure suit. Unfortunately, several of the younger F-111 aircrews beeped him when he asked for priority, and he was good enough to just joke about it. " And my buddies are beeping me" or something along those lines. After the recovery, word came down from on high (Buster, I think), that U-2s had priority over anything for landing. We were just practicing, but they were actually building an air and ground order of battle we would need come 16 January 1991.
Haha same thing happens to us in the desert. Coming back after nearly 10 hours in the jet (not including the 1 hour sitting in the suit for the O2 pre-breathe) and we are like last in the priority list. I sat there in a holding pattern for nearly an hour as all the fighters, tankers, awacs, etc landed before me. It was annoying, but I suppose I got an extra hour of flight time.
Dead on. Different planes, same problems! All share the same passion/love for flying though! ^ Keep sharing! Flying is flying. It's all fun.
Different planes, same problems. Well what I was thinking isn't quite a match to that but I couldn't help comparing my flights in a 1930 Model A powered Pietenpol to what u2driver is doing. We are still pilots and still have the same calling regardless of the equipment. Man! How far we have come! I can't act as PIC anymore but that doesn't stop my returning to so many good times in the air. Those replays never leave and there are few activities that have the grip that flying has on one's life.
Agreed. It's why I left my job out of college on a whim to try and make a dream job a reality. I don't make as much nearly as money as I could have, but it's been pretty rewarding. It's pretty common to be thanked for my service, but I thank all of them for paying taxes so I can do this for a living..
Yep! You have the clue to the plot and as an old negro fellow worker once said, " You done the right thing!" Money isn't everything and you are being fulfilled in a lasting way. I'm sure that many of us would like to meet you, if not in person, on AvChat. You are doing something far beyond what most of us can imagine, particularly a 91 year old has been. Glad that you are on board!
I don't want anyone for one minute to think that I am including myself in the class of those aviators who have accomplished so much. Not just U2driver but many of you in the forum who have made their way to the top of one or more of the many paths to follow in aviation. It is an important part of my being and always has been but there have been a lot of other things that have interrupted that train of thought. So, I really don't know who I am most of the time but I'm sure having fun.
A couple of snaps from YYZ today. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
