What It's Like to Be in the Pilot Seat of a Secret Spy Plane

What it's like to be in the pilot seat of a secret spy plane

We got an exclusive look at a Lockheed U-2 spy plane taking off and a chat with a pilot.

U-2 Pilot On What It Took To Make Record-Setting 14-Hour Flight A Reality

The U-2 just flew the longest mission of its flying career on the 70th anniversary of its first flight, but the type's future is very much in doubt.

U-2 Dragon Lady Flies Again

AUGUST 5, 2025 – On the evening of July 31st, a TU-2S Dragon Lady from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing took off from Beale Air Force Base to begin a flight unlike any the U-2 airframe had done before. Seventy years after the very first Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady’s accidental maiden flight in 1955 by Tony LeVier over Groom Lake, Nevada, the U-2 would finish the longest single flight this platform had ever attempted, flying across all 48 contiguous stat…

The U-2 Dragon Lady’s Record-Breaking 70th Anniversary Flight

70 Years at 70,000 Feet Nearly seven decades after it first accidentally took flight over the Nevada desert, the legendary U-2 Dragon Lady has proven it’s far from finished. YouTube / Combat Wire On July 31, 2025, a TU-2S aircraft from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base launched on what would become the longest single flight in the U-2’s storied history. Using the callsign “DRAGON 70,” the jet soared above all 48 contiguous U.S.…

U-2 Dragon Lady breaks record in 70th anniversary flight

In a tribute to seven decades of service, a TU-2S Dragon Lady from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing completed the longest single flight in the history of the Lockheed U-2, covering all 48 contiguous US states.  The mission began on the evening of July 31, 2025, from Beale Air Force Base (AFB), California. After more than 14 hours and over 6,000 nautical miles, the aircraft returned the next day, setting a new endurance record for the high-altitude re…