The historic flight, which was 11 years within the making, noticed the TU-2 flying longer than 14 hours and touring over 6,000 NM throughout all 48 contiguous states of the U.S.
On Aug. 1, 2025, we reported a couple of Lockheed U-2 plane which was heard speaking to air site visitors management in regards to the intention to interrupt the altitude and endurance data for the kind. Few hours later, the U.S. Air Power confirmed that the plane certainly broke two endurance data and offered extra particulars.
The flight, utilizing the callsign DRAGON 70, was speaking with the Atlanta Air Route Site visitors Management Heart (ARTCC) and acknowledged that the plane departed from Beale AFB at 9:30pm the earlier night, with the plan to return the next afternoon. DRAGON 70 was not transmitting on the correct transponder modes for flight monitoring web sites like Flightradar24 to show its flight path, so the one indication of this flight occurring had been the radio communications which had been caught on public frequencies.
The historic flight
In response to the service, a TU-2S Dragon Girl from the ninth Reconnaissance Wing took off from Beale Air Power Base (AFB) on the night of July 31, 2025, piloted by Cory “ULTRALORD” Bartholomew, 1st RS assigned flight security officer and U-2 teacher pilot, and Lt. Col. “JETHRO”, 1st RS teacher pilot and U-2 chief pilot. Notably, the Air Power highlighted that this flight had essentially the most U-2 flight expertise mixed in a single U-2 cockpit as each pilots maintain the data for the best quantity of U-2 flight hours.
The flight was carried out on a particular date for the plane, the seventieth anniversary of the very first Lockheed U-2 Dragon Girl’s unintended maiden flight in 1955. On that day, throughout a deliberate excessive velocity taxi take a look at with take a look at pilot Tony LeVier on the controls, the prototype U-2, then often called Article 341, lifted from Groom Lake at solely 70 knots.
The purpose for this particular anniversary was to finish the longest single flight this platform had ever tried, flying throughout all 48 contiguous states of the USA. When the Dragon Girl landed the following day at Beale AFB, it had flown longer than 14 hours and traveled over 6,000 nautical miles, breaking the endurance data for an plane of its class, introduced the Air Power.
It thus seems that the plane didn’t break the altitude report, though the press launch didn’t present particulars on this try, and the present actual altitude report stays labeled. The U-2 is extensively identified for being able to lengthy flights at altitudes above 70,000 ft, however the actual altitude that it will probably attain has by no means been publicly disclosed.
“This flight is historic, and it’s becoming that it was deliberate and flown by aircrew from the first Reconnaissance Squadron, America’s longest-serving flying unit,” mentioned Lt. Col. John “JESTER” Mattson, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron (RS) commander. “The character of struggle is altering, however our excessive possession of our mission to construct aircrew prepared to take advantage of and dominate the electromagnetic spectrum and win, won’t ever change. We proceed to hone our fight competencies showcasing Beale’s capability as an influence projection platform to quickly reply to adversary actions anyplace on the earth.”
The planning
The service defined that the flight maxed out the operational vary of the U-2 and positioned the pilots on the fringe of their physiological restrict. Such a feat required cautious planning and it took 11 years earlier than this might occur.
“11 years in the past, I noticed simply how far we might hypothetically fly the U-2 if we actually wished to push its limits to see simply what it might it do,” mentioned “ULTRALORD”. “Now that had been on the seventieth anniversary of the U-2, 70 years at 70,000 ft, it appeared proper to show the true functionality of this plane”.
Planning and coordinating flight routes, selecting emergency refueling stops, and accounting for elements corresponding to winds, temperatures, altitudes and never crossing a border into the flawed air area had been solely a few of the elements that had been thought-about. The service defined that this flight was additionally the event to enhance comparatively new mission planning software program which the first RS makes use of to plan for extra advanced missions, because it has by no means been used to plan a flight this lengthy.
“I’m proud to be part of this report flight and put ULTRALORD’s imaginative and prescient into actuality”, mentioned Stephen “SCOTCH” Johnson, a 1st RS mission planner that labored on this historic mission. “This flight’s size makes it harder than typical so there have been particular challenges to beat in its planning”.
The physiological affect of the U-2 operations on the pilots is a widely known facet of the operations with the Dragon Girl, and the pilots famously fly with strain fits. That is much more true for this record-breaking mission, and in reality the service defined that the members of the ninth Physiological Help Group (PSPTS) needed to overcome and modify for the parameters of this U-2 flight.
“We already should be good on each single flight, so with this one it simply meant sustaining that commonplace of excellence,” mentioned Technical Sgt. Christopher Burdi, ninth PSPTS physiological assist detachment launch restoration crew. “We had to make sure no incidents would happen for an extended flight than ever earlier than, and that required extra care, and extra assets than typical, but it surely was nothing we couldn’t deal with or proceed to. Like I mentioned, we’re already used to acting at a stage of perfection.”
Equally, the ninth Plane Upkeep Squadron (AMXS), also referred to as the “Dragon Keepers” for his or her position in sustaining the U-2 fleet, labored onerous to verify every part went flawlessly. “One single mistake might price the pilot’s life and the plane, as particular precautions had been taken to make sure the anticipated sturdiness and longevity of the U-2,” mentioned the Air Power.
A tribute to the legacy of the U-2
The flight on the seventieth anniversary was not used just for breaking the data, but it surely was additionally used to honor the legacy of the Lockheed U-2. In reality, the service talked about that the flight paid tribute to all those that had gone earlier than and earned the privilege to be a member of the tight-knit U-2 group, which has simply over 1,000 pilots certified to fly the plane.
Particularly, the flight honored fallen U-2 pilots by together with particular flight paths over sure states, corresponding to over the houses of households these pilots are remembered by. The Air Power mentioned this facet was additionally emphasised by “ULTRALORD” after he touched down, noting the U-2 mission is just doable from the crew efforts of all these serving in the present day and all those that have come earlier than.
“The unbelievable factor about this flight is that it exhibits not solely the capabilities of the U-2, however that of our Air Power’s most vital asset, it’s folks”, mentioned Col. Keagan McLeese, ninth Reconnaissance Wing commander. “Our Airmen demonstrated they’re mission-ready in utilizing the abilities, adaptability, and innovation it takes to generate world air energy.”
