Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
...a jet-powered glider that flies at the very edge of "space."
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More properly, a powered
sailplane. Gliders can only descend, albeit
slowly, from a higher elevation to a lower one. Sail planes, usually visually
identifiable by high aspect -- long, thin -- wings, have a lift/drag ratio of 40
feet of forward travel to 1 foot of altitude loss and better, can soar, or gain
altitude using any of the various kinds of vertically rising air that arise
naturally in the atmosphere.
When I passed through Midway Island in 1971, there on the runway, amid
the flapping, squawking, and viciously snapping Goonie Birds was a flat
black U2, no markings whatsoever. All it was was cockpit, engine and high
aspect wings that sagged noticably and were supported by wing tip mounted
wheels. (Presumably there were fuel tanks, probably in the wings, but the
thin, sleek form suggested otherwise.)
Parked next o the U2 was a similarly flat black, unmarked HC-130.
Very sinister...