Wow, very impressive. How do I get a ride like that?

Ok, yours beats my rocket motor jack hands down. That was amazing - thanks....

That is one of the rarest airplanes every built - only 2 were ever made. The U-2 trainer. Did you notice the landing gear? The wheels under the wings fall off at takeoff. The pilot lands and has to keep the plan balanced on just center wheels until below 5mph when the wing tip skids can take the load.

W

awesome warren, thanks. gives me something to contemplate for the afternoon. pretty spiffy how they added the trainer seat btw!

That is one of the rarest airplanes every built - only 2 were ever made.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2 the different versions of the U-2:

U-2B Two-seat trainer; J57-P-31 engine; five built
U-2D Enhanced two-seat trainer
U-2CT Enhanced two-seat trainer rebuilt from U-2D airframes with relocation of the seats; six known converted
U-2RT Enhanced two-seat R-model trainer; one built
TR-1B All new two-seat trainer for the TR-1A; two built
TU-2S New redesignated TR-1B two-seat trainer with improved engine; four converted

Metadata from the site I found the link from says that this was a TR-1B.

Thanks Doug, I didn't know that - I'll go read the article. You gotta love Wikipedia.

Warren