First U2 Flight

The U2 was built by the CIA in the 1950s as a reconnaissance platform to overfly the Soviet Union before satellites were available. Between 1956 and 1960, U-2s collected aerial imagery over the Soviet Union until Francis Gary Powers' plane was shot down near Sverdlovsk on May 1, 1960.

The first unofficial U2 flight occurred on August 1, 1955 at Groom Lake, NV. Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier was instructed to taxi the plane to 70 knots. When LeVier set the throttle to idle, he realized that he was 20 feet in the air. The plane hit the ground at an angle and bounced back into the air. LeVier was then able to land the plane. Although the plane's right tire caught on fire during the landing, tests resumed the following day. The aircraft's first "official" flight occurred on August 4, 1955.