A friend sent me this link, reminding me how much I enjoyed it a few years back. If you've never seen it, the attached video is an amazing second seat ride in the U2 spy plane that was developed and first flown in 1955. The U-2 was built to go higher than any other aircraft. In fact today, more than 50 years since it went into production, the U-2 flies higher than any aircraft in the world with the exception of the space shuttle. It is flying more missions and longer missions than ever before — nearly 70 missions a month over Iraq and Afghanistan, an operational tempo that is unequaled in history. The pilots fly for 11 hours at a time, sometimes more than 11 hours up there alone. By flying so high, the U-2 has the capability of doing reconnaissance over a country without actually violating its airspace. It can look off to the side, peering 300 miles or more inside a country without actually flying over it. It can "see" in the dark and through clouds. It can also "hear," intercepting conversations 14 miles below. The U-2, an incredible piece of history and also a continuing and current piece of high technology! Enjoy the ride! Click the link below, and be sure your sound it turned on.
Breathtaking spy plane footage. [VIDEO]

And here's a link to a history of the U2:
Lockheed U-2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia