and all in a vintage aircraft. Perhaps the most famous spy plane ever built, the U-2, also known as the Dragon Lady, has been in service since 1956. A prototype flew in 1955, and the last plane in the series was built in 1989
We live in the Garden of Eden but all we can do is fight one another. There will be a cosmic reckoning one day. Some other intelligence will come upon what is left of our civilization when we are all gone and will wonder why we blew it when we had so much going for us.
PCOM1 my grandfather flew in one and I never even knew until after he passed away. If only I could have known, I’d love to hear the stories. Can’t believe I didn’t know until after.
James May is the only one who really appreciates things like this. He really loves flying. You can hear the excitement in his voice. He has never been in a program that was boring or unwatchable.
true, but to be brutally honest these are generally two pilot crews where both people are experienced, this guy is having to do the workload of two people, keep memory items going ect. If you swapped out the first officer in a 747 for a tv personality the work load on the pilot would go up substantially. He could still do both jobs, but it would occupy most of his time/attention.
I was thinking the same thing, its gotta be running so lean up that high, unless you are going insane speed like the SR71, but the U2 is just up there crawling around. Awesome engineering to build an engine that can tolerate that difference in air consumption between sea level and way the hell up there.
"Yet you believe the same propulsion works in space with the shuttle........#rockets don't and can't work in space." I am flabbergasted that someone as stupid as yourself is allowed unsupervised access to the internet. Rocket engines are fueled with, among other things, Liquid Oxygen. That's the only "air" they need.
It's all about Mach, you stay at damn near exactly the speed needed to take in enough air to stay at damn near exactly the speed needed to do it. The envelope for a U2 at its service ceiling is only +/- a couple knots. Yet that pilot can maintain it and carry on a conversation with James while eating... Incredible
Air isnt The problem, it doesn't need much it cruses at 480 mph so its a low power engine, fast enough to get air to keep the engine running, and fast enough to keep sustained lift in low pressure, which is why its wings are huge, hell at sea level it won't stall until its doing 70 mph
The fact Concorde did this at 58-60,000ft at Mach2 with people walking around drinking champagne and eating caviar- what an incredible machine Concorde was ✈️
10 years later, this is still one of the best videos I've ever came across. The beauty of the music as the U2 taking off, the flyover at the earth atmosphere to the landing. Just beautiful....
As an aviation enthusiast, I found the "500 foot takeoff roll" (pilot's words) incredible considering the weight of the fuel that must have been aboard that beautiful bird!
@@lennymecca968 Quote: _" I heard it as well and I would be beyond shocked if this bird got off the pavement in less than 500ft."_ I think I heard him say they were only thirteen miles high. My question is at what elevation do you lose lift?
I used to work next to Moffett Field. NASA had a U2 there. The rollout was very short. Then it just rotated and climbed, slowly, out of sight. As an Air Force brat, I found it remarkable.
It's called 'the overview effect' astronauts experience a profound shift in their thinking and attitude (towards better) when they see Earth from space
@Pugna I'd have to disagree. While the natural order of things does have risks and dangers, nature (when left to itself) is rather peaceful. There is a certain order in nature that you'd have to be incredibly far removed from not to see it. Yes, there are moments of strife, such as when a prey animal is trying to avoid becoming dinner for a hungry predator or when an entire forest full of animals is trying to escape a forest fire, but the peaceful moments far outweigh the conflict. Anyone who has ever spent time in a rainforest, or in the African plains, or even their local woods, cannot help but notice how peaceful and calm things are. Nature, as a whole, is peaceful. It may have moments of agitation, but these moments are necessary and brief before peace returns. Anyone who spends any amount of time in immersed in nature would see this.
I bought James a beer in the Denver international airport while he was on the way to film this show. It was such a treat to meet him in person, same chill guy as you see every time he's filming.
There is a story that a U2 pilot called his base in the UK and declared an engine emergency. He confirmed that he was at such a height that he could glide back to base. He was over Southern Germany at the time.
That pilot dude just seems so smart and cool and chill... I wonder if time spent away from all the BS at those altitudes helps keep perspective of what is really important in life.
I imagine U2 pilots have a LOT of time to contemplate things on those flights, and given the gravitas of what they experience while up there… yeah, I imagine that job puts a lot of life into crystal clear perspective.
I'm glad James May presented this. He is articulate, calm, curious, intelligent, humorous, understated and perfectly sarcastic in his descriptions and speech. He portrayed this opportunity with the right euphemisms.
The concept that we routinely get bored flying across a continent at near the speed of sound above the clouds and are watching movies to pass the time would simply baffle people a century ago.
Well he’s also concentrating very intensely on the flight systems and instruments. And as a representative of the armed forces I’m sure he wanted to project a cool, calm, professional demeanor. Also, recon pilots also are not “maverick” types - the kind of flying they do necessitates an intense focus on procedures and following the flight plan perfectly.
I come back to this clip every few months, makes me appreciate the beauty of the world we live in. And of course James's happiness always puts a smile of my face.
My grandfather flew in one of NASA’s U-2 planes several decades ago. I can only imagine an experience like that. I can’t believe he never told me. I’d loved to have heard the stories.
It was not declassified, so he couldn't tell you. You did not have a need to know. My uncle was finally able to tell me what he used to do once his projects were finally declassified decades later. Awe inspiring what is actually out there tech-wise.
Observing James May's exuberance is remarkably contagious. Merely witnessing his excitement brings me joy, and this extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime experience is truly awe-inspiring. I am grateful that he included us in his journey!
I’m a corporate pilot and fly jets. The highest I’ve ever been is 45,000 feet. The sky is darker when you look up. You see the curvature of the planet. I joke with my friends that, I operate a self propelled low Earth orbital vehicle. The U-2 actually does that. What a privilege it must be, to be selected and actually fly this airplane. Outstanding video thanks for sharing.
" no, that camera uses fish-eyer" Liar. If there was a fish-eye lens, the wing would be distorted. And it's not. Yet another flattard lie demolished by reality.
Watching this makes you realize how exceptional this plane and the pilots and all the crew - as well as our planet Earth - actually are !! Thanks to everybody for making this available.
m16msn seems like you are the one here fishing for an argument from a flat earth believer. After all, what they chose to believe doesn't affect your life whatsoever, so why instigate an argument???? They have a natural born right as a human being to believe or not believe anything they want. It's not hurting anyone, So Bruce Jenner has the natural born right to decide to be a woman after 65 years of being a man and that's ok, but random people online can't have their own beliefs about the shape of the Earth???
I don't know if I'm alone here, but when I watch this video, I feel such a sense of yearning. My whole life I've always looked up and wondered what it would be like to literally be "on top of the world" while knowing there's not much chance of ever making it happen for me. To me, the ultimate privilege would be to visit the ISS, with a very close second being this trip James May is taking in this video. While I'm more likely to win the lottery several drawings in a row than I am to be able to see the view James May had during his flight, I doubt I will ever stop yearning.
You're not alone...I'm always outside looking up in wonder and now I'm addicted to watching the ISS pass over...even if it's a fast travelling white light...cheers from Australia 👍🍻
@@lachlanmorrison2412 Yeah. I know what you mean. Seeing that pinprick of light and knowing it's a football field sized space ship is kind of awe inspiring. I've been tracking the ISS (and other satellites" for years and I don't think I've missed a lunar transit (my favorite) yet. Watching a sparkling dot traverse the night's sky is awe inspiring to say the least. There's just something incredibly special knowing I'm looking at a huge ship holding between 3 and 10 humans from the planet I'm standing on.
It’s crazy to think .. the Effective Oxygen Percentage at 80,000 ft is somewhere around 1-2%. Incredible that an aircraft can function on that amount. Pure amazing.
@@jacobstallcup8648 Yt commenters love smoking illegal substances. Nasa's Helios has the altitude record for highest sustained flight at around 95k feet, and a Mig 25 for highest ever altitude at 123k feet. Passenger planes fly at 35k to 40k feet. So yeah were you high wjen you made this comment sir
I think I would have shed quite a few tears of joy if I were in May's position. I get choked up just seeing the beauty that is Earth in a video. I think if I were in his position then, I probably would have bawled liked a baby.
What's truly gobsmacking is that 2000 ft below the passengers on concorde would be drinking champagne in a dinner jacket, not a space suit. I know it's not the normal 60k ft service ceiling but concorde was tested to 68k ft successfully. Very under rated engineering masterpiece.
I know the pilot! After he retired from the Air Force, he became an Instructor Pilot with Crew Training International at Beale AFB where he was a co-worker of mine back in 2010 and 2011.
Oh look----"The earth is flat" said nobody ever from the cockpit of this plane. A friend of mine has a wife who believes the earth is flat. Send her up in this plane.
As an educated and internationally travelled Australian, this flat earth thing is interesting to me. Are there really in bred hill billy christian types in the US that actually think the earth is flat? From a country that put the ISS up in orbit? And has planes flying to the edge of space every day? And has the whole world plotted for ICBM missile strikes. And gave the world Boeing jets that go around the rounded globe every hour of the day? Have these people never flown? I've seen the curvature of the earth, seen the sun setting and rising from the heights. It's ROUNDED dudes ... sheesh !!!
The amazing things that May, Hammond and Clarkson get to do. No words can describe how much i envy the 3 of them. What incredible careers they have all had! Absolute legends! 👏👏👏
Goosebumps all the way through and what an amazing bird, even when it lands it looks like it flaps its wings as hits the runway, so privileged to that ... maybe one day
I still can’t believe how far U2 has come as a band. From making 80s rock music, 2000’s pop music, and now to creating aircraft technology that goes into space. What a brilliant band.
Some footage shows curve some shows level. Footage is being filmed through a curved glass window that at different points shows different images. It is a common complaint among pilots of older jets that the curved window distorts their vision. The glass is curved and you don't think that plays a role in why some of the images were curved and some not? Here is a PDF by Aerospace Medical Research Lab detailing the problem. www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/767203.pdf
"But the Earth is a Pancake!" Thanks for joining the NASA Conspiracy Consortium James.... Nice Simulator.... lol... (To add: HQ? It really should be listed as HPQ... High Potato Quality..Mwhahahahah)
Wow... I thought Adam's Mythbusters flight was incredible. It still is, but someone likes James May along for the ride just takes it to the next level!
great vid but if this was considered HQ (like the title says) 14 years ago then my HDTV box back then was alien technology, or even my VHS back in the early 90's lol. the VHS quality is actually the same (240), DVD is 800 i think, HD is 1080 and 4K is over 2000
Мне напомнил тот факт когда было уничтоже́ние U-2 под Свердло́вском - один из эпизодов холодной войны, произошедший 1 мая 1960 года в период правления первого секретаря ЦК КПСС и председателя Совета министров СССР Никиты Хрущёва и президента США Дуайта Эйзенхауэра.
![James May Rides in a U2 Spy Plane [HQ]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
