Jun 072011
A design studied briefly in 1980-81 by Kentron International. A U-2 would be massively modified witha wing of much greater span and aspect ratio, with strut bracing to keep the thing from snapping off. The design was for a “research aircraft,” with a 31% improvement in cruise range over the baseline U-2.
This design had a wing area of 57.6 square meters, an aspect ratio of 20, an empty weight of 11,940 pounds, a loaded weight of 21,040 pounds, 7300 pounds of mission fuel, an unrefueled range of 3,073 nautical miles (475 minutes in the air) and a cruise altitude of 65,000 feet.
2 Responses to “Strut-Braced U-2”
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A Dale Reed design, maybe?
Could be a legit science mission. Kentron did a lot of work for NASA Dryden back in the day; and Dryden spent a lot of time looking for long range high altitude aircraft for Antarctic work, ozone hole research stuff.
Eventually PRC bought Kentron, Emhart bought PRC, Black&Decker swallowed Emhart, then tried to sell it off w/o much luck.
Minus the strut, the wing is a dead ringer for the layout used on the Blohm und Voss BV-155C high altitude fighter: http://en.valka.cz/files/rys132_441.jpg