The Navy made significant modifications to the U-2 to enhance the high-flying aircraft’s ability to land aboard a carrier.
This article is the first in a two-part series on “Operation Whale Tail,” the CIA’s ambitious project to reformat a U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane for aircraft carrier use. The second article will be published tomorrow.
Did you know that the U-2 Dragon Lady was once operated from an aircraft carrier? It seems extremely hard to believe, but it is true: the glider-like, unwieldy U-2 was adapted for carrier operations in the 1960s as part of the CIA’s “Operation Whale Tail.”
The impetus behind Whale Tail was the need to access some very obscure locations for intelligence gathering. The U-2, built for deep penetration behind enemy lines, had a 3,000 mile operational radius—which permitted ISR operations in some very hard-to-reach places. Still, there were some places on the map that the U-2 could not reach from the land-based airstrips that the spy plane exclusively operated from. But the CIA had an idea, and approached the U.S. Navy with a proposal.
“Operation Whale Tail”: Shrinking the U-2 to Carrier Size
The CIA initiated Operation Whale Tail in mid-1963. The goal: adapt the U-2 Dragon Lady for aircraft carrier operations.
Though one might think that the plane’s enormous wingspan would make it difficult to launch from a carrier, the opposite was true. According to Air & Space Forces Magazine, “The glider-like configuration of the U-2 made it capable of taking off unassisted from a carrier when there was a high wind-over-deck factor.” Meanwhile, the U-2’s “slow approach speed made arrested landings relatively easy, with the carrier’s arresting cables kept at their lowest setting.” To further assist the U-2 in landing, the carrier would be positioned into the wind, providing up to 30 knots of wind-over-deck into the nose of the landing aircraft. The result was a landing speed just above 50 knots—remarkably slow for any aircraft—and allowed for the U-2 to land within the limited space that the carrier deck allowed. And if the U-2 missed a cable, or needed to go-around, the engines provided sufficient power for a re-acceleration and touch-and-go during landing. So, with the math all worked out, the CIA and Navy agreed to actually test the U-2 from a carrier.
In August 1963, in the dead of night, under the cover of darkness, a Navy crane was used to hoist a U-2 onto the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier. As the Kitty Hawk steamed north from San Diego, up along the California coast, U-2 test pilot Bob Schumacher took off with a full load of fuel, needing just 321 feet of deck to rotate. Then, Schumacher made a handful of practice approaches before finally landing the U-2 for real.
The landing did not go as planned. According to a CIA report, “although the takeoff was very successful, the attempted landing was not. The aircraft bounced, hit hard on one wingtip, and then just barely managed to become airborne again before reaching the end of the deck.”
Undeterred, the Navy made modifications to the U-2, to enhance the high-flying aircraft’s ability to land aboard a carrier. Modifications included the addition of sturdier landing gears, an arresting hook, and wing “spoilers” that could cancel aerodynamic lift when the U-2 came over the aircraft deck. Needless to say, the modified U-2 was more better-suited for carrier operations—prompting the Navy to push forward with testing in support of Operation Whale Tail.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image: Shutterstock / ranchorunner.
