How To Fly A U-2 Spy Plane

How To Fly A U-2 Spy Plane -- Jalopnik

Got your eye on a sweet used '59 U-2 spy plane you saw on Craigslist? Would you go ahead and take the plunge if you just, you know, knew how to fly it? Then boy, are you in luck.

That's because a couple days ago an entire flight manual for the U-2 from 1959 was declassified and released by the CIA. You can tell it's declassified because on each page where the word "secret" appears, someone has carefully drawn a line through it. We've got a copy here for you.

The U-2 is, of course, one of the most legendary and well-known aircraft of all time. It was one of the first true purpose-built spy planes, created at the height of the Cold War to fly over the Soviets and snap photos at high enough altitudes to prevent them from finding out or shooting it down. Of course, the U-2 may best be known for the time that both the finding out and shooting down part actually happened in 1960 over the Soviet Union.

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My Comment: Amazing .... this was classified super-duper top secret 50 years ago .... and now it can be read by anyone in the world.