Through the Amazing Ingenuity of the Legendary Lockheed Skunkworks
We Were Able to Build the U-2,
The First Piloted Air-Breathing Aircraft Capable of Sustained Flight at 70,000 Ft
But the Whole Purpose of That Aircraft Was to Take Extremely Clear Photos
Of Wide Areas of the Soviet Union for Intelligence Analysis
No One Knew How to Do That At That Altitude in an Aircraft Moving at 500 MPH
See and Hear How That Set of Very Difficult Problems Was Solved
From a Member of the Team That Did It.
Solving the Problems:
Designing and Building the Hycon 73-B, The First U-2 Aircraft Camera
Drawing from his participant observations and actions, Gordon Jefferson describes his association with first the “Balloon” camera development (the initial testbed for the new technology) and then the application of what he and his team learned to actual U-2 camera design and manufacturing during 1958-1959 as a member of both design teams. He was employed by Hycon Manufacturing from June 1956 through June 1964 as a part- time Electronic Engineering student while attending Pasadena City College and Cal Poly, Pomona, CA.
Highlights of his presentation include:
· Being responsible for the perfection of the electronic circuitry compensation for lack of pressure at altitude, temperature variations at altitude, and object distance. These parameters have significant effects on the clarity of photography.
· Describing the reasons for the excitement of his verification testing tasks of the “Balloon” Camera, including shake and electronic interference testing prior to flight and then in its gondola at the 80,000 feet testing altitude.
· Performing night photography and discovering that the electronic flare sensor in the gondola was malfunctioning, not triggering the camera’s shutter. The gondola suspension balloon required deflation to access the sensor. Gordon redesigned it at the test site, Fort Huachuca, AZ.
· When photo interpreters were able to achieve desired resolutions while photographing various aircraft flown at various altitudes and speeds under the camera with patterns painted on wings, we achieved equivalency of detecting a fly on a person’s nose at 80,000 feet altitude.
· After the above was completed, all achieved technologies were directly transferred to the U-2 camera configuration.
· Dealing with additional problems that arose when the “Balloon” camera was mounted in a U-2.
o The first U-2 with the Hycon 73-B camera produced disappointing images that were blurred. Gordon determined that the rotating mirror bearing race had slack, and that, when combined with aircraft vibrations, was producing image blurring. He designed and installed bearing clamps. These activated just prior to and during each photographic exposure, thus making the bearing ring ridged. Photographic performance returned to operational acceptability.
o With this fix, photo resolution capabilities achieved equivalency of detecting a fly on a person’s nose at 70,000 feet altitude.
Gordon Jefferson is President of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trains Association (HFCTA), www.hfcta.org, whose mission is to replace California diesel train locomotives with zero-emission Hydrogen Fuel Cell (HFC) passenger train sets and HFC-powered locomotives. His former activities include being a California-licensed Steam Locomotive Engineer, running historic steam powered trains at private historic railroads when local engineers were not available; a member of a California-sponsored Technical Commission to investigate on-the-horizon technologies for future transportation systems; an FAA electronic engineer 1987-2002, CAM process control systems designer, and electronic engineering designer for Hycon as noted above. He is also a licensed journeyman machinist from age 18.
This is the 85th in a series of presentations sponsored by the Museum featuring eyewitnesses to, and other experts on, significant Cold War-era events and activities.
Date and Time: Sunday, June 2, 2024 from 2:00-3:30 PM EST. THIS EVENT IS ENTIRELY VIRTUAL, WITH ONLINE ACCESS ONLY.
(NOTE: FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS PRESENTATION BUT CANNOT ATTEND BECAUSE THEY ARE AT A DISTANCE, HAVE A CONFLICT, ETC.. THEY MAY BUY A TICKET VIA EVENTBRITE LIKE ATTENDEES, THEN ACCESS THE EVENT VIDEO ONLINE AFTER THE EVENT VIA A LINK THAT CWM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JASON HALL WILL SEND THEM. TO ARRANGE, EMAIL JASON AT JASON@COLDWAR.ORG.)
Cost: $20, 100% of which is a contribution to the Cold War Museum.
Location: ONLINE ONLY. Eventbrite ticket buyers will receive a link to the virtual room on the Zoom platform where this event will take place. We are recording the whole event, including the Q&A, for the Museum’s archives.
Agenda:
- 1:30-2:00. Participants arrive in the Zoom room online.
- 2:00-2:05. Jason Hall, Executive Director of the Cold War Museum, introduces the Museum and Gordon Jefferson.
- 2:05-3:00. Gordon presents on the overcoming the difficult technical problems in creating the first U-2 camera.
- 3:00-3:30. Q&A opportunity for the audience.
Questions? Call or email Jason Hall, 703-283-4124 (cell), jason@coldwar.org
