Special thank to All U2 Personnel past, present and future this release
is dedicated to you, " In God we trust all others we monitor."
Thank to all the contribitues to SurClaro (the list is very long) who's work is used in this release or help me to produce it, the copyright on there work is here by acknowleged.
Installation:
Copy the U2-S-22K folder to your FS2002 aicraft folder and the gauges to the FS2002 gauge folder the aircraft should appear in the menu in FS under Lockheed. Load the Defualt flight at Miegs, select the U2-S from Aircraft menu then go to the Airfield of your choice, Beale USAF Base is the home of the U2 and a good practice area. Setup your options and save.(Weather, keep wind and turbulence to minams)
A pocket history of the U2:
The U2 is really two aircraft, the original and the R/S models, the original was design and built in less than a year by kelly Johnson and the Lockheed Skunk works for the CIA in 1955, this was for operation " Overflight " the covert photography of the USSR, the aircraft was considered to have only 2 years before missile would make it to vunreable to operate, so it remained very much a prototype although 55 were built and modified to various models from A to H and remained in service until 1988 when the last 2 U2-C(T) two seat trainers were withdrawn.
(For a detailed account of the development and operation of the Original aircraft point your browser at the CIA web site for a declassified History of Podject "Aquatone" a big download but very informative.)
Kelly Johnson saw the need for a full production version and began design work, this lead to the " Revised " version or U2-R some 40% larger and emboding all the leasons learnt from the early opperations. The new version enter service in 1969, 12 being built.
In 1980 the production line was re-opened and 37 aircraft produced
including 2 ER-2's for NASA (to replace two U2-C's at Ames) and 3 U2-RT two seat training aircraft.(For a short period these aircraft were call TR1-A's and TR1-B but this was soon dropped.) The aircraft was also offered for sale to the RAF, Congress approved the sale in 1984 but the British Goverment have never indicated that the option was taken up and no U2's appear on the RAF inventory.
In 1988 due to the withdrawl of the J75 engine, a test engine from the B2 bomber prodject, the F118-GE-101, was fitted to a U2-R, after testing the new engine was shown to produce a 16% increase in fuel economy and a weight saving of 1300 lbs.
In 1994 the first re-engine aircraft entered service as the U2-S all aircraft including NASA ER-2's were converted by 1998.This included a cockpit upgrade, new wiring so all aircraft could carry any sensor combinations available and possibly a EW update.
In 1998 tests indicated a fatigue life of 75000 hrs for the U2 airframe
at the present rate the aircraft could continue in operation for 150 yrs!!
The USAF indicate that the aircraft will not be withdrawn until 2020 unless things change and that they are considering an order for 16 new aircraft.
At present 32 U2-S aircraft are shown on inventory include training aircraft.
The U2-S and the FS2002 U2-S:
The real U2-S has some features not available in FS, most important is the Flap Gust setting. This setting deflects the flaps Up!! 10 degrees and the Ailerons 5 degrees, this reduces wing lift to a more normal level. This allows the aircraft to cruise at a moderate speed at low altitude without a negative angle of AOA. As this cannot be modeled in FS you must fly at low speed at low altitude.
FS also lumps spoilers and air brakes together, the real aircraft has seperate lift removing spoilers and drag inducing air brakes, so I have only modeled air brakes which do not reduce lift.
FS cannot model the real undercarrage of the U2 so I have used a virtual narrow track gear so you still have to balance the aircraft with aileron on takoff and landing.
The other important item is the leading edge stall strip, this is a retractable knife edge strip which enhances stall approach warning and at landing AOA's produces a partially stalled area on the wing to allow the aircraft to avoid ground affects and sink to the ground in a controlled way, not float along.
I have therefore had to tweak the flight model to give the best combination of landing and high altitude handling within the model available. I hope it is a good combination. I must point out that I have no information on the real aircrafts handling other than non-clasified publications so, this is a reasonable best "guestamate" only.
Flying the FS2002 U2-S:
The real U2 is general said to be a challenging aircraft to fly and the most difficult to land of all USAF aircraft. So, you have been warned, take things slowly and think well ahead. Remember the U2 is around the same size and weight as a WWII heavy bomber but flies at the speed of a Learjet at high altitude and a Cessna on landing. Read the pilots notes in the Pdf file first and I will run throught a Flight profile.
Takeoff and Climb: (note this is for FS aircraft and may not reflect the real world)
Start Engine, Battery master on, Fuel on all, pump on, Starter, when running, alternator on, Avonics master on. De-ice on, pilot heat on, lights as required.
Set, autopilot to 70,000' at 6,000 fpm, Rwy heading, mach hold 0.69, IAS Hold 160 knots, do not engage!, Set Gps.
Check, Airbrakes closed, flaps up, trim 0.5 to 0.75 degrees nose down,
Call ATC as required
Brake off, full throttle (Keep it fully open until leveling out), keep the wings level, let the aircraft rise off the ground do not force a tackoff, gently bring the nose up to 20 degrees and hold 160 knots with pitch, trim the aircraft into the climb, do not retract gear until 10,000 feet!!. For a autopilot climb watch the VSI until it has dropped to 6,000 fpm, engage in Autostab (this brings in auto-cordination and yaw damping to mimic the real aircrafts auto-stabilising system), alt hold and heading hold modes, do not engage the auto throttle. Keep the IAS at 160 knots by varing the vertical speed until you reach mach 0.71 then hold this mach number. Watch for and corrected for, with vertical speed, a reduction in engine power between 20,000 and 30,000 feet this mimics the real aircrafts engine managment system but at a some what lower altitude.This is the best point to turn on to your course or gps heading. Above 50,000 feet the climb will flatten to 300 to 500 fpm. Once you are level at 70,000 engage the auto throttle at mach 0.69 this should give an indicated mach number of 0.71. Two cruise speeds are mentioned in the pilots notes as these are classified I use the figure quoted by Nasa for there ER-2 of 0.71 and 0.74. As fuel is burned the nose up angle of 3 degrees will reduce to zero and you can begin to climb at around a 100 fpm in the cruise climb to the the max altitude for the atmospheric conditions this is general agreed to be around 85,000'.
Getting down again:
The real U2 is said to be reluctant to leave altitude when light on fuel, so the method used may seem some what unusual. Cancel all autopilot funtions except heading hold and autostab, keep the throttle open, lower the undercarrage and open the speed brake. Lower the nose 10 degrees as soon as the IAS begin to rise close the throttle to idle, trim to hold 105 to 110 knots, Sit back and enjoy the view. Once below 40,000' you can can continue as a nomal desent but leave the gear down and brakes out. The desent is best timed to bring you to 5 miles of you airfield at a safe altitude, as you have no Gust flaps. Once level set your speed for the fuel wt by holding the nose level and ajusting the throttle to hold altitude and retrim. Keep the gear down and speed brakes out.
Landing:
As you approach the field dump fuel if require, the max landing weight is 25,000 lbs, adjust the fuel so that the tanks all have the same percentage(a fuel management panel is my next prodject),lower first stage flap and trim for level flight, reduce altitude to circuit hight of 1,500 ft above ground level, call ATC and join as requested, lower second stage flap, reduce speed and trim for level flight, exstend the downwind leg to at least 5 miles from the threshhold, make a 180 degree turn on to finals, varing the turn to rollout on the centreline. lower third stage flap reduce speed and trim for level flight, remember the airspeed. fly in level until you have a good "picture" of the runway and are well above the ILS glide slope. Throttle back to a 500 fpm desent trim to the airspeed you have just remembered, KEEP ON THE CENTRELINE. Use the throttle to bring you in over the threshold at 10'. Gently roundout, closing the throttle at the same time, to 4 degrees nose up and wings level. The aircraft should sink gently on to the runway. Keep the wings level and brake to a stop, at this point the chase car crew would install the pogo's. Then taxi as instrusted. The turn radius is large so you can cheat and use the slew as you have no ground assistance. Once you mastered that try a carrier landing, yes it is rated for carrier landings !!
Legal Stuff:
I have test this release on various system and have no reason to believe it will produce any problems, but I can not be held responsible for any Bah Bah Bah! etc.
All 3rd part item used are to the best of my knowlege, freeware and I declare my work to be Freeware.
Please feel free to modify, tweak to your heart's content but do not attempt to use anything for profit.
