Documents / FOIA release
This is a CIA History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, published in Washington in 1992 and approved for release in 2011. It covers the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974, which developed and flew the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART. It traces the U-2's development, the overflights of the Soviet Union, the downing of Francis Gary Powers on 1 May 1960, and later operations. One section is titled U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK.
“The Advance”26 pages
ORN Chapter 2 69 005653421 UNCLASSIFIED followed on I August. LeVier accelerated to 70 knots and began to try the ailerons. "It was at this point that I became aware of being air- borne." LeVier noted afterward, -which left me with utter amaze- ment, as I had no intentions whatsoever of flying. I immediately started back toward the ground, but had difficulty determining my height because the lakebed had no markings to judge distance or height. I made contact with the ground in a left bank of approximately 10 degrees." The U-2 bounced back into the air, but LeVier was able to bring it back down for a second landing. He then applied the brakes with little effect, and the aircraft rolled for a long distance before coming to a stop." Bissell, Cunningham. and Johnson saw the aircraft fall and bounce. Leaping into a jeep, they roared off toward the plane. They signaled to LeVier to climb out and then used fire extinguishers to put out a tire in the brakes. At a debriefing session that followed. LeVier complained about the poor performance of the brakes and the absence of markings on the runway. Damage to the prototype U-2 was very minor: blown tires, a leaking oleostrut on the undercarriage, and dam- aged brakes. This unplanned flight was but a foretaste of the airwor- thiness of the U-2. New pilots all had difficulty in getting the U-2's wheels on the ground because at low speeds it would remain in ground effect and glide effortlessly above the runway for great dis- tances. Taxi trials continued for one more day and were followed by the first planned flight on 4 August 1955. LeVier was again at the con- trols and had been instructed by Kelly Johnson to land the U-2 by making initial contact with the main or forward landing gear and let- ting the plane settle back on the rear wheel. LeVier had disagreed with this approach. believing that the U-2 would bounce if he tried to touch down on the forward gear first. After flying the aircraft up to 8,000 feet, LeVier leveled off and began cycling the landing gear up and down: then he tested the flaps and the plane's stability and control systems. Finally. LeVier made his first landing approach. As the U-2 settled down, the forward landing gear touched the runway and the plane skipped and bounced into the air. LeVier made a second attempt to land front wheels first, and again the plane bounded into the air. Transcripts of the test pilots and observers' comments on the initial U-2 test tlights have been published in "Secret First Flight of Article 001," Spyp/anes vol. 2, 1988, pp. 64-71. 82-85. UNCLASSIFIED
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.