These timeless works of art are crafted to withstand the years and become a family heirloom that can be treasured for generations to come. All that is required to maintain these models is an occasional dusting to keep them looking magnificent on display in your office or home. You will be the envy of your friends and colleagues when they see this majestic model on display. Don't worry all you have to do is share Military Models Online with them and they can build their own collection of airplane models.

To guarantee only the finest Lockheed U-2 Long Nose model planes, our skilled and meticulous modelers spend many hours crafting the details of the fuselage and wings to make this Aircraft model realistic enough to be displayed next to the original craft. Don't let the size fool you, these miniature airplanes are detailed and as realistic as the original Lockheed U-2 Long Nose. Purchasing one of these Museum quality replicas from us is as easy as filling out our secure online form and within days you will have your purchase in hand. All our models are shipped insured and securely packaged to make the journey to you, the new owners of this highly collectible aircraft model.

Length 8.5"
Wingspan 12.5"

History:

In the early 1950s, with Cold War tensions on the rise, the U.S. military required better strategic reconnaissance to help determine Soviet capabilities and intentions. The existing surveillance aircraft were primarily converted bombers, vulnerable to anti-aircraft artillery, missiles, and fighters. It was thought an aircraft that could fly at 70,000 feet (21,000 m) would be beyond the reach of Soviet fighters, missiles, and even radar. This would allow "overflights"—knowingly violating a country's airspace to take aerial photographs.

Under the code name "AQUATONE", the Air Force gave contracts to Bell Aircraft, Martin Aircraft, and Fairchild Engine and Airplane to develop proposals for the new reconnaissance aircraft. Officials at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation heard about the project and asked aeronautical engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson to come up with a design. Johnson was a brilliant designer, responsible for the P-38 Lightning, and the P-80. He was also known for completing projects ahead of schedule, working in a separate division of the company jokingly called the Skunk Works.

Johnson's design, called the CL-282, married long glider-like wings to the fuselage of another of his designs, the F-104 Starfighter. To save weight, his initial design didn't even have conventional landing gear, taking off from a dolly and landing on skids. The design was rejected by the Air Force, but caught the attention of several civilians on the review panel, notably Edwin Land, the father of instant photography. Land proposed to CIA director Allen Dulles that his agency should fund and operate this aircraft. After a meeting with President Eisenhower, Lockheed received a $22.5 million contract for the first 20 aircraft. It was renamed the U-2, with the "U" referring to the deliberately vague designation "utility".

The first flight occurred at the Groom Lake test site (Area 51) on 1 August 1955, during what was only intended to be a high-speed taxi run. The sailplane-like wings were so efficient that the aircraft jumped into the air at 70 knots (130 km/h).

James Baker developed the optics for a large-format camera to be used in the U-2 while working for Perkin-Elmer. These new cameras had a resolution of 2.5 feet (76 cm) from an altitude of 60,000 feet (18,000 m).[3] Balancing is so critical on the U-2 that the camera had to use a split film, with reels on one side feeding forward while those on the other side feed backward, thus maintaining a balanced weight distribution through the whole flight.

When the first overflights of the Soviet Union were tracked by radar, the CIA initiated Project RAINBOW to reduce the U-2's radar cross section. This effort ultimately proved unsuccessful, and work began on a follow-on aircraft, which resulted in the Lockheed A-12 Blackbird.