NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20150014963: Unlimited Horizons: Design and Development of the U-2. [NASA Aeronautics Book Series]

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by  NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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H D e s ig n a nd D eve lopme nt of the U -2
Peter W. Merlin
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Design and Development of the U-2
Peter W. Merlin
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Merlin, Peter W., 1964–
Unlimited horizons : design and development of the U-2 / Peter W. Merlin.
pages cm. — (NASA aeronautics book series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62683-025-7
1. U-2 (Reconnaissance aircraft)—History. 2. U-2 (Reconnaissance
aircraft)—Design and construction. I. Title.
UG1242.R4M4675 2015
623.74’67—dc23
2014045191
Copyright © 2015 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The opinions expressed in this volume are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official positions of the United States Government or of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
This publication is available as a free download at
http://www.nasa.gov/ebooks
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC
Table of Contents
Introduction: A Cold War Necessity v
Chapter 1: Designing for High Flight ...................................................................1
Chapter 2: Aquatone and Oilstone ....................................................................27
Chapter 3: Design Evolution .............................................................................53
Chapter 4: The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of .....................................................101
Chapter 5: Life Above 50,000 Feet ..................................................................129
Chapter 6: Flight Operations and Performance ..............................................153
Chapter 7: The NACA and the U-2 ..................................................................167
Chapter 8: NASA and the U-2 .........................................................................179
Chapter 9: ER-2 Expands NASA Horizons ......................................................197

Conclusions 209
Appendix 1: Aircraft Specifications 212
Appendix 2: Production Summary 216
Appendix 3: U-2 Timeline 238
Appendix 4: U-2 Space Shuttle Photography 240
Appendix 5: The Skunk Works Method 242
Bibliography 254
Acknowledgments 263
About the Author 264
Index 265
iii
A U-2 pilot gazes at the horizon from high altitude. (U.S. Air Force)
iv
INTRODUCTION
A Cold War Necessity
“There is a certain feeling of courage and hope when you work
in the field of the air. You instinctively look up, not down. You
look ahead, not back. You look ahead where the horizons are
absolutely unlimited.”
– Robert E. Gross, Lockheed Chairman/CEO 1932–1961
On a summer day in 1955, ominous clouds darkened the skies over a remote
desert valley in the Western United States, reflecting international tensions
between the U.S. and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In what had
become known as the Cold War, the two superpowers vied for supremacy in
the wake of World War II, waging a high-stakes game of brinksmanship as
each strove to discover the other’s strengths and weaknesses through overt and
covert means. The next bold step for the U.S. involved a spindly silver airplane,
innocuously designated U-2, undergoing preparations for its maiden flight in
the skies above central Nevada. Although this event took place without fanfare
and in utter obscurity, it heralded the beginning of an aeronautical technology
program that spanned more than six decades and showcased innovative aircraft
design and manufacturing techniques. Little did anyone realize at the time that
what had begun as a tool of Cold War necessity would evolve into a versatile
reconnaissance and research aircraft.
The U-2 program originated with a national requirement, an unsolicited
proposal, and studies championed by a panel of notable scientists tasked with
advising President Dwight D. Eisenhower on how the Nation might defend
itself against the threat of a surprise Soviet nuclear attack. To do this required as
much intelligence as possible on Soviet capabilities, but the Russian-dominated
USSR was a closed society that was virtually inaccessible to the outside world.1
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once described Russia as “a riddle,
wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”2
1. Chris Pocock, “Early History of the U-2 Dragon Lady,” Code One Online, February 2002, http://
www.codeonemagazine.com/article.html?item_id=103, accessed January 15, 2013.
2. Winston Churchill, Maxims and Reflections (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949), p. 55.
v
Unlimited Horizons
The most promising avenue toward solving this riddle was through observa-
tion from high above. In a November 1954 memorandum to Allen W. Dulles,
director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Dr. Edwin Land, founder of
the Polaroid Company, advocated for development of a reconnaissance aircraft
to be operated by the CIA with Air Force support. The vehicle, already under
development by Lockheed Aircraft Company, was described as essentially a
powered glider. It would accommodate a single pilot and require a range of
3,000 nautical miles. It would carry a camera capable of resolving objects as
small as an individual person. To ensure survivability against Soviet surface-to-
air missiles, the airplane would need to attain altitudes above 70,000 feet. Such
a platform, he suggested, could provide locations of military and industrial
installations, allow for a more accurate assessment of the Soviet order of battle,
and allow estimates of Soviet ability to produce and deliver nuclear weapons.
Land recognized that the airplane’s apparent invulnerability was limited. “The
opportunity for safe overflight may last only a few years,” he wrote, “because
the Russians will develop radars and interceptors or guided missile defenses
for the 70,000-foot region.”3
Designed as a stopgap measure to provide overhead reconnaissance capabil-
ity during the early years of the Cold War, the versatile U-2 has since evolved to
meet changing requirements well into the 21st century. Though many authors
have documented the airplane’s operational history, few have made more than
a cursory examination of its technical aspects or its role as a NASA research
platform. This volume includes an overview of the origin and development of
the Lockheed U-2 family of aircraft with early National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) involvement, construction and materials challenges faced by design-
ers and builders, releasable performance characteristics and capabilities, use of
U-2 and ER-2 airplanes as research platforms, and technical and programmatic
lessons learned.
3. Edwin H. Land, memorandum to Allen W, Dulles, November 5, 1954, http://www.gwu.
edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB74/U2-03.pdf, accessed January 23, 2013.
vi

The Martin RB-57D was based on the B-57 light, twin-engine bomber, but with improved
engines and a longer wingspan. (U.S. Air Force)
viii
CHAP TER 1
Designing for High Flight
Air Force officials had been pursuing the idea of high-altitude reconnaissance
since January 1953, when Bill Lamar and engine specialist Maj. John Seaberg
of the Wright Air Development Center (WADC) in Ohio drafted a request for
a design study to develop a highly specialized aircraft that would be produced
in small numbers. Surprisingly, they recommended bypassing such prominent
aircraft manufacturers as Lockheed, Boeing, and Convair and instead focusing
on Bell Aircraft Corporation and Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation.
Their superiors at Air Research and Development Command (ARDC) head-
quarters agreed that because a relatively small production run was envisioned,
these smaller companies would likely give the project a higher priority. In order
to provide an interim, near-term option, they also asked officials at the Martin
Company to study the possibility of modifying the manufacturer’s B-57 light
jet bomber with a longer wingspan and improved engines. The three compa-
nies were asked to submit results by the end of the year. The study project,
dubbed Bald Eagle, called for a subsonic aircraft with an operational radius of
1,500 nautical miles that would be capable of attaining an altitude of 70,000
feet and carrying a single crewmember and a payload of between 100 and 700
pounds. It was to be equipped with available production engines (modified, if
necessary) and have as low a gross weight as possible.1
All three companies had submitted their respective studies by January 1954.
Martin’s modified B-57 (designated Model 294) featured lengthened wings,
accommodations for cameras and sensors, and uprated twin engines. Fairchild’s
M-195 design was powered by a single engine and featured an over-the-fuselage
intake and stub-boom mounting for the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces.
Bell offered a delicate-looking, lightweight, twin-engine airplane called the
Model 67.2
1. Chris Pocock, 50 Years of the U-2 (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 2005), pp. 10–11.
2. Jay Miller, The X-Planes: X-1 to X-45 (Hinckley, U.K.: Midland Publishing, 2001), pp. 207–208.
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