Military Model Scene

Title: Remembering the Dragon Lady
Author: Brigadier General (ret) Gerald E. McIlmoyle & Lindo Rios Bromley
Publisher: Helion & Co
ISBN: 978-1-908916-93-8

A collection of memoirs of the men who experienced the legend of the U-2 Spy Plane. A 407-page soft-cover book from Helion & Co.
Perhaps it is hard to think that the story of the U-2 starts so many years ago, back in the 1950s. long before satellites and even the SR-71, and that modern variants still remain in use to this day, some 70 years later. Many of the stories in this book could never have been published at the time, or even soon after. The USAF crews, the pilots, the camera specialists, the maintenance and support teams and even the families are all included in their own sections of the book. There are even foreign pilots, from both the Taiwanese (Republic of China) and the RAF who were given the chance to fly these secretive aircraft. Early pilots were posted but not told what they would be flying, but it would be a weather unit, and they had to report to be measured up for a custom made pressure suit before they even saw their aircraft. Camera technicians were posted to the units but had to travel in civilian clothes to the camera and film manufacturers for their training in the specialised equipment the U-2 carried. Airmen had to have very patient/tolerant wives and families as they were posted on temporary tours of duty and unable to tell them what they were working on. Among the many operations they were involved in, plenty mention the Cuban Missile Crisis, along with the shooting down of Francis Gary Powers over Russia. There were the conditions they had to work in, especially on temporary/new bases, such as in Vietnam. In Vietnam there was even the time a U-2 crashed and it was left to Special Forces to have to find the missing 'black box', which thankfully they did successfully. Some of the stories from veterans who have since passed away but have been contributed by their surviving wives/families.
With all the initial secrecy around the aircraft and their units, the involvement of the CIA, this is the stuff of espionage novels. The stories give a good idea of what it was like to fly and operate this unusual aircraft, with the unusual landing gear arrangement and how to deal with in-flight emergencies. I found it fascinating reading and learnt a lot more about the operating history of the U-2, and of the people who worked with it. Plenty of photos spread throughout the book which also support the text.
Thanks to Helion & Co for the review copy.

Robin