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 Subject:   Take A Ride in a Spy  Plane

 

1. Click on the link after the narrative below!  

2. The U2 aircraft climbs at an amazing rate of nearly 10,000 feet a minute. Within about four minutes, I was at 40,000 feet, higher than any commercial airplane. We kept going up to 13 miles above Earth's surface. You get an incredible sensation up there. As you look out        the windows at 70,000 feet, it feels like you're floating, it feels like you're not moving, but you're actually going 500 mph.. The U-2 was built to go higher than any other aircraft. In fact today, more than 50 years since it went into production, the U-2 flies higher than any aircraft in the world with the exception of the space shuttle.  

3. It is flying more missions and longer missions than ever before nearly 70 missions a        month over Iraq and Afghanistan , an operational tempo that is unequaled  in history. The pilots fly for 11 hours at a time, sometimes more than 11 hours up there alone.

4. By flying so high, the U-2 has the capability of doing reconnaissance over a country without actually violating its airspace. It can look off to the side, peering 300 miles or        more inside a country without actually flying over it.

5. It can "see" in the dark and through clouds. It can also "hear," intercepting        conversations 14 miles below. The U-2, an incredible piece of history and also a current piece of high technology, is at the center of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ..  

6. Enjoy this video. Enjoy the ride!

7. Take A Ride in a Spy Plane, Click the link below. Go to the lower right corner of the screen and click the icon immediately to the left of the volume control to bring up the full screen.

 http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/