Message posted by Magoo on March 27, 2000 at 17:17:43 EST:

They even tried it in the air-to-ground role in Vietnam, but it kinda resisted pulling out of dives!

Yes, the U-2 airframe was derived from the -104, although it was significantly modified and lightened. One anecdote I read (Ben Rich,I think) recalls how when they were building the U-2 prototype they accidentally bumped into the fuselage with a trolley and dented it - they thought, "How in the hell is this thing going to stay together in the air, if it can be damaged this easily on the ground?"

The -104 was a nice looking airplane, and as a 'slash and burn' one-pass point defence interceptor, it was pretty damn good. I don't know whether I would have liked to get in a tight turning dogfight with, say, a MiG-19 or MiG-21 though - that would've been hairy!

Magoo

In Reply to: Re: On a lighter note... posted by Andre' M. Dall'au on March 27, 2000 at 10:06:34 EST:

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