Project Aqu

In the 1950s, the epoch-making U-2 spyplane was young,

promising, and still very, very secret.

Compiled by Zaur Eylanbekov

50 AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010

uatone

An early U-2 reconnaissance airplane, speed brakes and landing chute

deployed, lands at Groom Lake, Nev., in the mid-1950s. This aircraft bears
a civilian registry number and markings of the National Advisory Commit-
tee for Aeronautics—forerunner of NASA. It was part of an elaborate cover
story for what actually was a joint effort of the CIA and the Air Force. This
photo and those on the following pages, recording those early days, come
from the Lockheed Martin archive.
AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010 51
T  he U-2 is headed into its opera-
tional homestretch; in a few years,
the Global Hawk will take its place.
Even now, though, the story of its
birth is fascinating. In November 1954,
President Eisenhower approved Proj-
ect Aquatone, a top secret effort to
build a spyplane able to obtain intel-
ligence about Soviet nuclear deploy-
ments. The U-2 made its first flight in
August 1955. The U-2 was conceived
by the CIA and built by Lockheed’s
famed Skunk Works. It was the first
airplane to fly higher than 60,000 feet,
above the reach of Soviet anti-air
missiles at that time. |1| A U-2 pilot is
readied for a mission. Early U-2 pres-
sure suits required “reverse breath-
ing,” in which pilots had to exhale hard
to admit new air into the face mask.
|2| A technician at Groom Lake—the
secret base that got its start as home
of the U-2 program—checks flight
gear, which was form-fitted to each 1
pilot. |3| A U-2 (background) is main-

2
tained in the open at Groom Lake. The
U-2 has always had bicycle landing
gear, but this one has a wheeled
dolly under the tail to facilitate towing.
The aircraft bears NACA markings.
Once the U-2 became known, some
genuine weather flights were flown
to maintain the cover story, but the
type’s true altitude capability was not
revealed. |4| The A-2 camera system
for the U-2, here being installed. Note
the wide apertures of the three down- 4
and side-pointing cameras.
52 AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010
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2 3

|1| A U-2 receives a postmission

check. The aircraft’s wings were pat-
terned after those on gliders, to obtain
maximum lift. Early test flights were
confined to an area within 200 miles
of Groom Lake; a pilot whose single
engine flamed out could make a
dead-stick landing back at the secret
base. |2| Behind the fiberglass panels
on the nose of this early U-2 were
sensors that collected signals intel-
ligence on Soviet radars tracking the
airplane. These data were collected
and analyzed after each mission, to
plot future routes away from defenses.
|3| A half-dozen U-2s wore NACA
markings early in flight test. |4| U-2s
were built by Lockheed at Burbank
and Palmdale, Calif., then loaded in
C-124 Globemaster IIs and reas-
4 sembled at Groom Lake for test and
operations.
AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010 53
|1| The arduous process of suiting
up for extremely high-altitude flight
could take hours. Pressure suits, like
the U-2 itself, evolved quickly and
with many field modifications. Early
suits had no lavatory accommoda-
tions, despite missions that could last
up to 10 hours. |2| A pilot poses for
a wry photo. Pilots had to prebreathe
pure oxygen for more than an hour to
eliminate nitrogen bubbles that could
give them “the bends” at extreme
altitude. Heating elements are visible
on the edges of the faceplate. |3| U-2
wings being assembled at Oildale,
Calif. |4| Groom Lake had few ameni-
ties, but the crash truck proved a
necessity on numerous occasions.
|5| U-2 in final assembly at Groom
Lake. Early hangars were small and
sparse.

4 5

54 AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010

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2 3

|1| The U-2 pilot’s pressure suit was

so stiff when inflated that another
pilot had to perform the preflight
inspection, help strap the pilot into
the seat, and then serve as a spot-
ter as the U-2 took off, feeding the
pilot, by radio, information about
the airplane’s attitude. |2| A U-2,
unpacked from its cargo flight, is
assembled at Groom Lake. An early
unofficial name for the base was
“Watertown Strip,” named after the
New York hometown of CIA Director
Allen Dulles. |3| The Groom Lake
cafeteria served meals to Lockheed,
Air Force, and CIA employees. A
few billiard tables served as the only
after-hours entertainment. |4| A U-2
wearing NACA livery has its engine
4 serviced. The entire rear of the air-
craft could be removed.
AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010 55
|1| Mission planning was also done
at Groom Lake, keeping planners
close to the pilots and the whole
operation as secret as possible. The
atmosphere was serious but informal.
|2| Lockheed pilot Bob Schumacher
dons the improved MC-2 helmet for
prebreathing; it would be covered
with a thin white shell in flight. The
helmet was not a trivial matter:
Latching problems contributed to
three fatal crashes in the late 1950s.
|3| “Housing” accommodations at
Groom Lake were spartan. The site
was chosen for its remoteness and
proximity to nuclear test ranges.
Unwelcome visitors could be spotted
miles away. |4| Final assembly in a
Lockheed hangar at Watertown Strip.
|5| The U-2 will “lean” on one wing
if it’s not moving. Pylons support
the wings for maintenance. During 1
taxiing for takeoff, “pogo” landing
gear fall away. The scene shows how
much infrastructure was built up in a
relatively short time, but the aircraft
were still being housed and serviced
out in the open.

4 5

56 AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010

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2 3

|1| A U-2 takes off at Groom Lake.

Spotters in these cars watched with
binoculars, talking the pilot through
the tricky takeoff. |2| Lockheed, CIA,
and Air Force workers commuted to
Groom Lake via military aircraft. Early
U-2 pilots were selected from USAF.
They mustered out and were hired
back as civilians, to hide their military
connections. |3| The weather office.
|4| By the 1960s, the Air Force had
taken over the U-2 program—note the
insignia—and was making frequent
upgrades. These two aircraft are in
flight test over Edwards AFB, Calif.
The U-2 proved remarkably success-
ful. Today, more than 50 years later,
variants of the U-2 are still in service,
their retirements extended several
4 times because of their continued
utility. n
AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010 57