NASA Lockheed ER-2 U-2 Dragon Lady Armstrong Ctr Herpa 558082 Scale 1:200

Highly detailed Herpa Wings (Miniaturmodelle) true-to-scale aircraft model NASA ER-2 Lockheed U-2 TR-1A Dragon Lady Armstrong Flight Research Center Herpa 558082 Scale 1:200 Small scale and life-like model for adult collectors. Not suitable for children under 14 years! Country/Airline: NASA Aircraft: ER-2 (Lockheed U-2 TR-1A "Dragon Lady") Item#: HE558082 558082 Material: Diecast metal Scale: 1:200 Currently two U-2 reconnaissance aircraft are being operated by NASA. The ER-2s, as they are called, provide invaluable Support observing celestial, atmospheric and oceanic processes. The aircraft are also often used for satellite calibration. The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-jet engine, ultra-high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, very high-altitude (70,000 feet; 21,000 m), all-weather intelligence gathering. The U-2 has also been used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, and communications purposes. Early versions of the U-2 were involved in several events through the Cold War, being flown over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, and Cuba. In 1960 Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2A over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile. Another U-2, piloted by Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., was lost in a similar fashion in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. During the Cold War, the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron called the English air base at Alconbury home. At this timeoperated the tactical surveillance version of the otherwise strategically utilized and equipped U-2, designated TR-1. The unit took part in the Gulf War starting in 1991, one of the TR-1s main tasks was the finding of the Scud rocket launch facilities.