U2 Undercarriage

[BAW19]

Just been watching Discovery Wings and saw a footage of a U2 taking off. I was supprised to see the wingtip undercarriage fall away as the plane left the ground and was wondering - if the plane has disposable outriggers and the main gear is an in-line fusilage configuration how on earth does it land without leaning over onto a wing when the speed falls off?

[Craig.]

with a great deal of difficulty i thought it has small wheels that extended for landing but i do know they have a car following them all the way to touchdown giving them altitude calls so they dont hit down on the wings gotta be one of the hardest planes to land.

[Tequila Sunrise]

"if the plane has disposable outriggers and the main gear is an in-line fusilage configuration how on earth does it land without leaning over onto a wing when the speed falls off? "
It does fall to one side on landing

[Blade]

When it lands the pilot hold the plane on its inline wheels until the last  possible second. Then he lets it fall GENTLY to one side, there are skids on the ends of the wings, and it grinds to a halt. After every flight the skids are replaced.

[Professor Brensec]

[quote]When it lands the pilot hold the plane on its inline wheels until the last

[Rifleman]

The U2 is just another glider, albeit powered by a J-79, so why not land just like a glider......because of its higher weight and longer takeoffs, it really can't make use of wing runners, and so has to utilize those aforementioned drop-off outriggers...

[quote]
P.S. I've always been meaning to ask. Now that it's come up, did U2 the Band name them selves after the Plane?

[HawkerTempest5]

Brensec pal, U2 did take their name from the plane. I'm not a huge fan, but I do know it had some political meaning to it. Something to do with the Gary Powers incident.

[Craig.]

well the U2 name thingy, this is what is said on their homepage
"The Dublin punk guru Steve Averill (better known as Steve Rapid of the Radiators from Space) advises the band that The Hype stinks, at least as a name. What about U2? It

[Professor Brensec]

Re the U2 thing - Thank you people.

[USAF Vet]

 Yup, it has runners, or actually small built-in wheels at the wing tips. Chase vehicles are used as safety precautions in case something goes wrong. When they first became operational, at altitude the flight envelope between stalling and structural damage was about 30 knots.