2-840-053 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Single-seat, single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, used by CIA, NASA, and USAF. This U-2 flew the first operational mission over the USSR on 4 July 1956. Hervey Stockman was the pilot. Still shrouded in secrecy over 35 years after its creation, the Lockheed U-2 was originally designed as a strategic reconnaissance aircraft, playing a crucial role during the tense years of the Cold War. Built by the famous ‘Skunk Works" by Lockheed under the direction of Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, the U-2 was truly one of the most successful intelligence- gathering aircraft ever produced. The U-2 on display at NASM flew the first operational mission over the USSR on 4 July 1956, piloted by Hervey Stockman.