Approved for Release: 2013/06/25
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Secret NOFORN
Chapter 2
70
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*First flight of the U-2,
4 August 1955*
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![Image: A black-and-white photograph of an aircraft in flight, with visible engine exhaust trails. The image is grainy and partially obscured.]
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With Kelly Johnson watching from a chase plane and giving a constant stream of instructions, LeVier made three more unsuccessful landing attempts. With the light fading and a thunderstorm fast approaching from the mountains to the west, LeVier made one last approach using the method he had advocated: letting the aircraft touch on its rear wheel first. This time the U-2 made a near-perfect landing, which came just in the nick of time. Ten minutes later, the thunderstorm began dumping an unheard-of 2 inches of rain, flooding the dry lakebed and making the airstrip unusable.⁴³
Now that the first problems in flying and landing the U-2 had been worked out, Kelly Johnson scheduled the “official” first flight for 8 August 1955. This time outsiders were present, including Richard Bissell, Col. Osmond Ritland, Richard Horner, and Garrison Norton. The U-2 flew to 32,000 feet and performed very well. Kelly Johnson had met his eight-month deadline.⁴⁴
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⁴³ Ibid., pp. 21-22; Johnson, “Log for Project X,” 4 August 1955.
⁴⁴ Johnson, “Log for Project X,” 8 August 1955.
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Secret
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Approved for Release: 2013/06/25