U-2 Public Announcement in 1956
Subject: U-2 Public Announcement in 1956
Date: 16 Jun 2000 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <8id5t8$i5l$1@nnrp1.deja.com>
It was a cover story, but they spelled "U-2" right.
Washington Post May 7, 1956 p. A1
May Help Detect Red A-Tests
U.S. Unveils New Plane Which Reaches 10-Mile Altitude in 'Routine'
Flight
by Charles Corddry, United Press
The Government yesterday unveiled a new Air Force plane which can reach 10-mile altitudes "as a matter of routine" and which may prove valuable in detecting Russian A-bomb tests.
The new plane was discussed by Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, director of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, in announcing a new assault on the problems of high-altitude flight.
Dryden said that while only a few military planes can now operate above 50,000 feet, such altitudes will be routine for the jet passenger transports and military combat planes of the future.
He said the new research program was made possible by the development of the Air Force plane, dubbed the Lockheed U-2.
The plane has a big wing to give necessary "lift" in the thin air in the outer limits of the troposphere. It is powered by a J-57 jet engine which gives it a speed of about 500 miles an hour.
[...]
First flights are being made from Watertown strip in the Nevada atomic test area to study conditions in the Rocky Mountain region.
[end of excerpts]
Jerry Shinley
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