U2 Senior Span at Fairford

[Trevatanus]

Saw my first U2 in flight at the weekend it / they are on deployment at Fairford at the moment, and I, along with many others, went to Fairford to see it return from a mission on Saturday afternoon.

IMG_1007 by Jim Pritchard, on Flickr

IMG_1017 by Jim Pritchard, on Flickr

IMG_1018 by Jim Pritchard, on Flickr

IMG_1023 by Jim Pritchard, on Flickr

IMG_1063 by Jim Pritchard, on Flickr

[NM62]

Very nice.

Brings back memories when I saw a few U-2R's in and around Mildenhall back when I was spotting and the TR-1's (as they were designated at the time) when they were based at Alconbury - they had the big wing pods but not the Dorsal Pod and Bumpy noses.

[Krikkit]

Nice, not just Senior Span, but the full package with the ASAR nose and the Senior Glass wing pods as well.

Incredible machine for its age, hard to believe it's still not been replaced!

[lufbramatt]

Interesting photos thanks for sharing. Cool to see one with all the kit hanging of it.

Link which explains all the lumps and bumps:

https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/a-spotters-guide...

[Flooble]

It must be horrible to fly with all the lumps and bumps, apparently it was never exactly easy with a tiny margin between stall and overspeed. Add in turbulence from the housings and I can see it being pretty terrifying.

[K50 DEL]

If you get a heads-up on a rtn or t/o time again I'd love a message OP, never managed to get a pic of one of these and would love to!

[anonymous-user]

Looks great thanks for sharing



Interesting to see how the aircraft has developed obpver the (many) years.

[pushthebutton]

lufbramatt said:

Interesting photos thanks for sharing. Cool to see one with all the kit hanging of it.

Link which explains all the lumps and bumps:

https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/a-spotters-guide...

That one seems to have pretty much every extra on it. Fully loaded?

[anonymous-user]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2

I didn’t know RAF pilots were flying U2s in the 1950s very sneaky beaky stuff, working with the CIA paid by MI6 kept secret for 50 years.

[hammo19]

Great chase car.......CV8

[hammo19]

Great chase car.......CV8

[Yertis]

hammo19 said:

Great chase car.......CV8

As former CV8 driver with 130,000 miles on type, and having seen it in the flesh, I'm pretty sure it's actually a GTO.

[Trevatanus]

K50 DEL said:

If you get a heads-up on a rtn or t/o time again I'd love a message OP, never managed to get a pic of one of these and would love to!

Rumours of a U2 op tomorrow mate, no idea on times, will update if I hear anything more

[The Hypno-Toad]

Keeping an eye on the Russian exercises in Eastern Europe at the moment?

[K50 DEL]

Trevatanus said:

K50 DEL said:

If you get a heads-up on a rtn or t/o time again I'd love a message OP, never managed to get a pic of one of these and would love to!

Rumours of a U2 op tomorrow mate, no idea on times, will update if I hear anything more

Will keep my eye on the thread, cheers!

[Trevatanus]

u2 leaving now.
if the mission is the same as Saturday (I honestly dont know) would be back at 1630.
will update if i find out.

ETA: Eta confirmed

Edited by Trevatanus on Thursday 31st August 10:48

[2fast748]

Trevatanus said:

IMG_1063 by Jim Pritchard, on Flickr

This picture surprises me for a number of reasons:

The fact it's been taken at all (not very secret squirrel is it?)
The fact the bloke with his head in the cockpit has jeans on.
The crowd welcoming the pilot back.
The general casual attire of those welcoming the pilot home.
The non-American chase car!

Aside from all that they are awesome pictures of an awesome piece of kit.

[Eric Mc]

They may not be USAF personnel.

[Trevatanus]

Eric Mc said:

They may not be USAF personnel.

Don't the CIA run the U2?

[anonymous-user]

2fast748 said:

This picture surprises me for a number of reasons:

The fact it's been taken at all (not very secret squirrel is it?)
The fact the bloke with his head in the cockpit has jeans on.
The crowd welcoming the pilot back.
The general casual attire of those welcoming the pilot home.
The non-American chase car!

Aside from all that they are awesome pictures of an awesome piece of kit.

Looks like it’s landed in someone’s BBQ.

Aren’t the U2 operations run by the CIA and private contractors etc?