A friend of mine, now deceased, was a U2 pilot during the late 50's and 60's. He was one of the pilots that was overflying Cuba during the crises there. He had great stories about that plane, knew many of the famous U2 pilots personally including Powers and Chaffee, and loved that airplane.
I was lucky to get work with that plane and the SR71 during my military days and knew several of the pilots for both. Their love of those special planes was something to see. I often would go to the flight line to watch U2 launch and recoveries simply because it was awesome to that plane. Kelly Johnson was an amazing guy who made a couple of amazing planes that have served us well for a very long time. Not too many planes can claim to be as successful at what they were designed to do for so long.
