It’s always fun to see what you can find on Google – the in-the-air shot here is *real* nice! But things that would have been highly classified even 30 years ago are right out in the open – for example, look up Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, and you can see the US B1-B fleet all lined up on the end of the runway.
John Marshall
May 5, 2011 5:43 am
If this is a U2 then it must be classified. I can hear the NSA knocking Anthony!
John Silver
May 5, 2011 5:45 am
Love the Kelly Johnson planes: P38, U2, SR71.
jasmr
May 5, 2011 5:46 am
I picked it as a U2 but couldn’t quite understand the double image until looking at the answer image. I saw one of these hanging from the roof of the display hangar at Duxford air museum just out of London. This building encompasses a B-52 Strato-Fortress as well as an SR-71 Blackbird. You just have to marvel at what man can achieve with clear thinking, good science, and a strong purpose.
How did we get it so wrong with Climate Science? 🙂
JB Williamson
May 5, 2011 5:47 am
Reminds me of the Avro Lancaster that was spotted on google some time ago.
One of many links here: http://www.rosshetherington.com/?cat=23
The maps have been updated so its no longer there, which is a shame.
glacierman
May 5, 2011 5:52 am
Looks like a U2, but not sure where.
Joe Di S
May 5, 2011 5:54 am
Wow! Is that a U-2?
AleaJactaEst
May 5, 2011 5:56 am
How about this
57.220538,-2.18254
type/copy-paste into Google Maps and slide up to one bar on the zoom
Came across it by accident planning a trip
wsbriggs
May 5, 2011 6:04 am
That’s a U2 and its shadow flying along what appears to be a large white track, possibly a runway, although, since the image is from Google, the nearness of the plane to the shadow may be a false perspective, since the suns rays are almost parallel, and the sun is up and to the right in the photo.
jack morrow
May 5, 2011 6:11 am
Too bad there are not photos of the sr71 that have been decommissioned.
Pamela Gray
May 5, 2011 6:15 am
Funny thing about Google Earth. It now opens up the entire world for selection and examination of targets without actually needing to be on the ground. The irony is this: It depicts the unintended consequences of a developed country capable of putting satelites into orbit in a single photo.
Petras
May 5, 2011 6:22 am
All of the camouflage paint and stealth technology in the world will not hide the shadow of a low-altitude aircraft flying on a bright and sunny day.
Myrrh
May 5, 2011 6:24 am
The shadow plane is in the sky, bouncing off the parked plane on the ground?
Once looking out of a plane’s window somewhere over the Atlantic, saw a perfect circle rainbow below and at an angle from the plane. Is this similar effect, bouncing off water in the air/ice on the ground, somehow?
@Lonnie re: 7 E-3s taking off
An interesting insight into how these satellite pictures are assembled. There aren’t seven planes taking off. Just one, or maybe two, caught seven times. By the seventh shot the plane has enough altitude that its shadow falls out of the frame.
Mike.
Amino Acids in Meteorites
May 5, 2011 6:38 am
I knew it was a U-2 but I thought it was a trick question. Is it because it seems so odd that U-2’s are still being used when satellite can do the job? It does seem odd to see a U-2 taking off in this century.
David Y
May 5, 2011 6:39 am
Beale AFB
Satellite view on Google maps used to show 2-3 U-2’s w their shadows.
Hector Pascal
May 5, 2011 6:47 am
jasmr.
Duxford is at Duxford, just south of Cambridge. Home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. A brilliant air museum, with many airworthy aircraft. There is a dedicated USAAF hall to commemorate the sacrifice of our cousins who helped to keep the world a free place.
Stephen Wilde
May 5, 2011 6:48 am
The recent US team on its way to confront Bin Laden ?
David Y
May 5, 2011 6:48 am
Or should I say TR-1’s now…For those outside California, Beale is not far from Chico–native home of QB Aaron Rodgers, our own esteemed AnthonyWatts, Sierra Nevada Brewery, CSU-Chico (Chico State), and described by my 6-yo son as ‘the best place on Earth’. And Beale used to host SR-71’s; now much UAV activity, apparently. I recommend visits to Chico and Beale!
It looks like a U-2 being shadowed by itself
A pic of a U-2 taking off and it’s shadow on the ground.
Two gliders flying over a runway! The photo was taken from one of the gliders!
35.404303,-97.382126
Plug the above in maps.google.com.
I count 7 E-3 aircraft taking off. I only count six shadows. Perhaps a little photo editing?
It’s always fun to see what you can find on Google – the in-the-air shot here is *real* nice! But things that would have been highly classified even 30 years ago are right out in the open – for example, look up Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, and you can see the US B1-B fleet all lined up on the end of the runway.
If this is a U2 then it must be classified. I can hear the NSA knocking Anthony!
Love the Kelly Johnson planes: P38, U2, SR71.
I picked it as a U2 but couldn’t quite understand the double image until looking at the answer image. I saw one of these hanging from the roof of the display hangar at Duxford air museum just out of London. This building encompasses a B-52 Strato-Fortress as well as an SR-71 Blackbird. You just have to marvel at what man can achieve with clear thinking, good science, and a strong purpose.
How did we get it so wrong with Climate Science? 🙂
Reminds me of the Avro Lancaster that was spotted on google some time ago.
One of many links here:
http://www.rosshetherington.com/?cat=23
The maps have been updated so its no longer there, which is a shame.
Looks like a U2, but not sure where.
Wow! Is that a U-2?
How about this
57.220538,-2.18254
type/copy-paste into Google Maps and slide up to one bar on the zoom
Came across it by accident planning a trip
That’s a U2 and its shadow flying along what appears to be a large white track, possibly a runway, although, since the image is from Google, the nearness of the plane to the shadow may be a false perspective, since the suns rays are almost parallel, and the sun is up and to the right in the photo.
Too bad there are not photos of the sr71 that have been decommissioned.
Funny thing about Google Earth. It now opens up the entire world for selection and examination of targets without actually needing to be on the ground. The irony is this: It depicts the unintended consequences of a developed country capable of putting satelites into orbit in a single photo.
All of the camouflage paint and stealth technology in the world will not hide the shadow of a low-altitude aircraft flying on a bright and sunny day.
The shadow plane is in the sky, bouncing off the parked plane on the ground?
Once looking out of a plane’s window somewhere over the Atlantic, saw a perfect circle rainbow below and at an angle from the plane. Is this similar effect, bouncing off water in the air/ice on the ground, somehow?
ER-2 flying above Moffet Field
@Lonnie re: 7 E-3s taking off
An interesting insight into how these satellite pictures are assembled. There aren’t seven planes taking off. Just one, or maybe two, caught seven times. By the seventh shot the plane has enough altitude that its shadow falls out of the frame.
Mike.
I knew it was a U-2 but I thought it was a trick question. Is it because it seems so odd that U-2’s are still being used when satellite can do the job? It does seem odd to see a U-2 taking off in this century.
Beale AFB
Satellite view on Google maps used to show 2-3 U-2’s w their shadows.
jasmr.
Duxford is at Duxford, just south of Cambridge. Home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. A brilliant air museum, with many airworthy aircraft. There is a dedicated USAAF hall to commemorate the sacrifice of our cousins who helped to keep the world a free place.
The recent US team on its way to confront Bin Laden ?
Or should I say TR-1’s now…For those outside California, Beale is not far from Chico–native home of QB Aaron Rodgers, our own esteemed AnthonyWatts, Sierra Nevada Brewery, CSU-Chico (Chico State), and described by my 6-yo son as ‘the best place on Earth’. And Beale used to host SR-71’s; now much UAV activity, apparently. I recommend visits to Chico and Beale!
A plane taking off and its shadow