Click here to view the embedded video.

If you are an aviation fan, you know about Oshkosh.

Hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and more properly known as EAA AirVenture (or even more properly as “The EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In”), “Oshkosh” is the annual gathering in Oshkosh, Wisconsin held at the Wittman Regional Airport.

The show, usually at the end of July, is seven days long. During that event, the control tower at that small airport is the busiest control tower in the world.

This year, 2007, the Air Force decided to fly in the U-2. It was the U-2′s first appearance in 10 years.

The pilot for that fly in was my brother, Lt. Col. Jon “Huggy” Huggins.

The three-minute video is hosted on the ABC site. I’d include it here for you, but ABC doesn’t like that. So all I can do is link to it. You have to pretend to watch a 30-second commercial before the video starts.

For the video, news reporter Jonathan Karl is allowed to fly in one of the four 2-seat U-2 trainers.

(In the information below, I’ll note the “time stamps” of the video.)

The first section (0:10) shows the U-2 taking off. If you look closely you’ll see little “training wheels” under each wing. These keep the wings level because the U-2 only has the one main landing gear right in the center. Watch and you will see these fall off (about 0:16) as the plane begins to get lift and take off.

Also, as the plane takes off (about 0:18) you get a good side view to see the modifications made for the 2-seat trainer. That second “bubble” behind the main cockpit allows the training instructor to sit, while the student sits in the main cockpit up front. For these “courtesy rides”, they put the visitor in the back.

In addition, in this same sequence, you get a nice look at the landing gear … one set of two wheels smack dab in the middle of the plane, not under the wings like most planes. When the plane lands, the pilot has to keep “flying it” on the ground, using the wings to keep it level and to keep it from tipping over and having one wing drag. But, the wings have titanium skids on the end for those times the pilot doesn’t quite do that. The little tiny wheel in the tail, keeps the tail from dragging.

The video shows them putting one of the space suits on Jonathan Karl. For the pilots, these suits are custom fitted, down to measuring the lengths of each finger joint in each hand so that the gloves fit exactly. The helmets are also custom fitted by, in effect, making a mold of your head. (For Jonathan, they put him in one that fit “close”.)

The suit also has “air conditioning”. Without it, you overheat in seconds. The “air conditioning” is adjustable, even allowing you to adjust the air blowing over your face and over the palms of your hands.

In the video when Jonathan is in the plane and climbing (about 1:30) you can see the “new” cockpit of the U-2. You see that the old mechanical altimeter has been replaced by an electronic “glass” altimeter. The “glass cockpit” is relatively new in the U-2. On my personal/hobby site I have photos of the 2001 early version of the cockpit, and the first delivered version, from April 2002.

Note also the pictures of the Earth you begin to see at about 1:45.  How high is the plane? High enough to clearly see the Earth’s curvature!

At about 1:57 Jonathan talks about the ability to fly outside of a country’s boundaries, but still look inside the country. One way to think of this is to think about your neighbor’s back yard. If you want to look into his back yard, you don’t actually have to go into his back yard. Instead, you can stay in your back yard and get high enough to look over his fence.

If you are interested, I have lots more information on the U-2 on my personal/hobby website in the U-2 section.

Also, check out this other post about my brother getting his promotion to Lt. Colonel … four years late.

He entered the Air Force after college and had been in the Air Force until March 2000 when he left to become a United Airlines pilot. After 9-11, in November 2001, he rejoined the Air Force and went back to flying the U-2.

About a year after he’d rejoined (November 2002) there was a promotion board. Perhaps because of the break in service (being out of the Air Force for a while) or some lack of continuity in annual reviews, or whatever, he was passed over for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.

Feeling that he might not have received a fair shake, he filed for a supplemental board and cited the irregularities he felt he’d encountered.

The personnel center concurred (and even found a couple more things). It was sent it on to the Pentagon. They concurred and this past May the supplemental board again reviewed the promotion.

Bottom line, he has now been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

But get this. They decided he should have been promoted way back then and the promotion is retroactive to 01.Apr.2003. And, he even gets the retroactive back pay!

That’s my brother and I’m proud of him.

[If you'd like to email him a congrats, just send it to ...
JamesBrother -splat- U2Pilot.com ...
just change the "-splat-" to "@" and remove the spaces.]

The Society is sad to announce that Lt. Col. Robert Riedenauer, USAF (Ret), (F), passed away Monday, 23 April 2007 at his home following a long battle with cancer. He was 70.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon; two sons, Jeff Koontz of Palmdale and Scott Riedenauer of Bellflower; and two daughters, Cheryl Clayton of Palmdale and Kimberly Sweazy of Florida; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Riedenauer’s life will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Antelope Valley Country Club, with military honors and a fly-over.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations may be made to the Antelope Valley Country Club Scholarship Fund, 39800 Country Club Drive, Palmdale, CA 93551.

Riedenauer is the only test pilot to have flown the U-2, SR-71 and F-117 during a lengthy military and civilian career.

A 1969 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Riedenauer began his test career on F-111 programs and the U-2.

He flew more than 120 hours in the U-2 in aiding the development of advanced sensor systems.

Riedenauer then flew developmental flight tests of the SR-71, retiring from the Air Force as chief test pilot for that program.

As a test pilot and director of operations for Lockheed’s Skunk Works, he helped design, develop and test classified programs such as the F-117 stealth fighter.

In 1982, Riedenauer crashed on the first flight of the first production stealth fighter, when the program was still highly secret. Although he was unable to eject, he survived the crash. However, the injuries he sustained ended his flying career.

The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but its remnants were used in the stealth fighter which stands on display in front of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. facility in Palmdale.

Among his many accolades, Riedenauer joined Lancaster’s Aerospace Walk of Honor in 2002 and was named an “Eagle” by the Flight Test Historical Foundation in 2005 for his work with the development of the U-2.

Riedenauer served as executive director of the Flight Test Historical foundation in its early years and was heavily involved in the initial fund-raising efforts that resulted in the foundation’s ability to build the museum facility at Edwards AFB, Air Force Flight Test Center Museum Director Doug Nelson said.

In recent years, he was active as the chairman of Palmdale’s Aviation and Aerospace Commission, tasked with advising the city on matters relating to Air Force Plant 42 and the L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport.

Riedenauer logged over 6,500 hours in more than 50 different aircraft.

He flew 120 combat missions in an F-105 over Southeast Asia in 1968, and was honored with the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Born in Fresno on Aug. 2, 1936, Riedenauer earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University in 1967.