With heightened tensions mounting in the Cold War, President Dwight Eisenhower's request for more accurate intelligence information on the Soviet Union was the spark that ignited the spy plane project. Modified USAF bombers began overflights of the Soviet Union in 1951, but existing lower flying aircraft in the US inventory were vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire and a number of cross-border flights were shot down. To meet the challenge and improve the survivability, the Lockheed Corporation received approval for their revolutionary design of a new recon aircraft on December 9, 1954. A test pilot flew the first flight on August 1, 1955, after only eight months of production, a record-breaking result for rollout of a new project, especially one this complex and innovative. Nicknamed the Dragon Lady, the U-2 has flown over Cuba, Alaska, the North and South poles, Vietnam, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, and Afghanistan, and is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. First-person memoirs of pilots, maintenance specialists, a flight surgeon, photographic specialists and some family members are included in this book.
The US also trained U-2 pilots from Taiwan and the UK and some of their photos and memoirs are in this collection. About the Author Gerald E. McIlmoyle enlisted in the US Air Force and began his pilot training in November 1951. Graduating in December 1952, he flew F-86s in Korea, became a flight commander and then assistant operations officer and was recruited into the U-2 program in 1957.