Those of you who are aviation buffs recognize the Lockheed U-2 “Dragon Lady” spy plane. Once upon a time, it was a primary tool of the military and CIA, used for intelligence gathering. Capable of flying over 70,000 feet in the air, the U-2 could operate outside of the range of enemy intercepting aircraft, ground-to-air missiles, and radar detection (at the time). And despite being over 50 years old, the Dragon Lady is still used to this day as a platform for electronic sensor R&D, and satellite data calibration/validation, while still flying the occasional Big Brother mission.
Apparently another thing to do with a U-2 is chase it down a runway with a Chevrolet Camaro as the plane performs a touch-and-go that helps guide the old spy plane up and down the runway, as its design makes it difficult to both takeoff and land. The driver’s job is to communicate with the pilot as the plane descends to the ground, and as it launches upward.
Super cool. Watch the Camaro give chase in the video below.
Comments
I’m sorry, but the promised video isn’t as obvious as usual.
The video should be there now. Sorry about that!
weres the video???
Would love to know the speeds they have to reach…
Not a bad job to have. Image being asked what one does. “Oh, I chase planes in a car.”
I think the old car that used to chase these down was the Pontiac GTO! Nice to know GM makes muscle cars that can keep up with pretty high tech planes.
On the related videos there are GTOs, G8s and Chargers being used as chase cars.