Glad to know going Smurf isn't severe. Severe sounds like a good Friday night at the bar so it is a benchmark I'm familiar with.

Try harder.

Trust me, I did. The worst was when it was hot and I'd sweat, then the sweat would drip into my ear and tickle the hair in the ear...no way to get into the ear to get the sweat out, so you just suck it up.

Is that because the suit is so pressurized that you can suck sweat in through your ear? Cool.

Hope this is not a repost,

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/02/21/u2-spy-plane-pilots-get-key-lime-pie-hash-browns-and-more/

No. It was mainly for those that had a severe hit, or repeated hits. Too much to discuss on this forum, and too much of it is my opinion. Bottom line: like Spoo said, this "problem" is no more.

Quite a good read on a severe hit here... https://www.airspacem...70000-Feet.html

On another note, this DVD is quite a good watch, one of the lady drivers covers DCS...

Edited February 21, 201312 yr by MichaelBuckle

The Air & Space article was good. But hearing the actual story from those involved in it is really something. Originally, Oprah wanted to do a segment on it (that was shot down).

The full story is worthy (by Hollywood standards) of a made-for-TV movie. As hokie as that sounds,... and as much as I hope that is never done,... a lot of people, including those of the host nation military and medical community, worked hard to keep him alive.

Were you there, Spoo? I remember that Smoke and Fidel, and maybe Sharkey were, but can't remember who else.

Apparently, in the course of "the situation" some local base leadership stormed into Ops to get "the brief", and wanted to know who was in charge. They were not happy to find that Captains were running the show,... and they were further put out when no one had time to deal with them. For the record, those Captains ran things perfectly.

It's a sad shame that Kevin and Lt Col Russell were never recognized in a more formal manner for their efforts.

I hope Kevin writes a book about it.

Edited February 22, 201312 yr by Huggyu2

I left about a week before it happened. No shit, one of the community's finest moments. The host nation, the med staff, those Captains, and Super Dave are the reason Kevin is still alive. Perfectly executed. Not sure about Sharky, but you're right about Smoke and Fidel. Fidel was the one frantically driving across the field yelling "BAIL OUT!" Into the radio as Kevin came within single digits of a dirt nap.

Edited February 22, 201312 yr by Spoo

Just never thought of any type of liquid leaking and sloshing around/causing corrosion.

Urine (whether human or any other animal) is highly corrosive.

One of the most labor-intensive areas during heavy maintenance checks on airliners are the structural elements under the lavs. I work with plenty of sheet-metal guys with airline MX experience; they've all got "horror stories" of finding ribs/stringers/skins under lavs that were basically powder under the paint, from piss-poor aim (pun intended), blue-juice leaks, etc. In one case, a guy pulled the lav floor in a 727, only to find the rib that was supposed to be under it had literally corroded to dust and was gone.

Huggy i got your reply but your inbox if full again. Must be pretty popular

Urine (whether human or any other animal) is highly corrosive.

One of the most labor-intensive areas during heavy maintenance checks on airliners are the structural elements under the lavs. I work with plenty of sheet-metal guys with airline MX experience; they've all got "horror stories" of finding ribs/stringers/skins under lavs that were basically powder under the paint, from piss-poor aim (pun intended), blue-juice leaks, etc. In one case, a guy pulled the lav floor in a 727, only to find the rib that was supposed to be under it had literally corroded to dust and was gone.

Ahh, reminds me of the great JSTARS saga. "Lets buy all those old 707-300 freighters cheap. They still have lots of flying time left and we can get them cheap!" $40+ million apiece later (plus the $4m each to buy them) replacing the back half of the fuselage of almost all of them after decades of hauling cattle, sheep and pigs in Africa, it turns out we could have bought brand new ones with the latest engines for less. Boeing tried to warn them, but the iron major in the Pentagton was to "smart" to listen!

The audio from the DoD Live Roundtable that took place yesterday on the 1st RS... https://static.dvidshub.net/media/audio/1303/DOD_100760794.mp3

Some good questions and some 'interesting' ones too!

One year in the desert.

Awesome video! How much did you pay Extreme to edit it?

I always wondered if you had to fully suit up just for a local.

Go Pack Go!

I always wondered if...

Well,... if you've always wondered about it, there is a thread on Baseops.net where you can ask U-2 related questions.

Well,... if you've always wondered about it, there is a thread on Baseops.net where you can ask U-2 related questions.

And you're an NC State fan.....(deleted). Helmet and low harness for a low flight.

Quite a good read on a severe hit here... https://www.airspacem...70000-Feet.html

There's a video somewhere online of the Mirages flying around with the U-2. Pretty dramatic. Will try and find it...

There's a video somewhere online of the Mirages flying around with the U-2. Pretty dramatic. Will try and find it...

Like a VIDEO video? Or the computer generated re-creation that's floating around?

Steve,

Do you know Chris Pocock very well? I just saw him at the El Centro Airshow. He's a great U-2 resource in the UK... or worldwide for that matter.

One year in the desert.

That's awesome Spoo, well edited and nice audio choice too! - Shot by GoPro?

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That's awesome Spoo, well edited and nice audio choice too! - Shot by GoPro?

ContourHD

Spoo,

Who's the dude driving the car for your flight? I'm talking 'bout the guy with the cheesy mustache.

Spoo,

Who's the dude driving the car for your flight? I'm talking 'bout the guy with the cheesy mustache.

I'm assuming by "cheesy" you mean "fucking awesome".

What are the long term prospects for the U-2 in this ever changing economic and technological climate? As someone who dreams of flying this aircraft, but hasn't even entered UPT, how likely is it that she'll still be around by the time I've completed the training and acquired the experience to be competitive? Perhaps no one has the answer to this question, as it seems they keep changing the retirement date.

What are the long term prospects for the U-2 in this ever changing economic and technological climate? As someone who dreams of flying this aircraft, but hasn't even entered UPT, how likely is it that she'll still be around by the time I've completed the training and acquired the experience to be competitive? Perhaps no one has the answer to this question, as it seems they keep changing the retirement date.

The smartass side of me wants to say, "I'd try reading the 'U-2 Dragonlady info' thread."

The non-smartass side of me wants to say....hmmm...can't seem to access that side.