{"id":130747,"date":"2026-05-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=130747"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:52:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:52:52","slug":"tony-levier-the-skunk-works-test-pilot-who-first-flew-the-u-2-spy-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/tony-levier-the-skunk-works-test-pilot-who-first-flew-the-u-2-spy-plane\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony LeVier: The Skunk Works Test Pilot Who First Flew the U-2 Spy Plane"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

On 1 August 1955, Tony LeVier lifted a strange new Lockheed aircraft off a dry lake bed in the Nevada desert. The aircraft had impossibly long, narrow wings \u2014 like a powered glider \u2014 and was powered by a single jet engine. It climbed like nothing he had ever flown, reaching altitudes far above any operational military aircraft. He had been told to land it. He couldn’t. The U-2 spy plane, it turned out, had a significant flaw: at altitude, it refused to descend.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Quick Facts<\/h4>
Nationality<\/td>American \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8<\/td><\/tr>
Achievement<\/td>Chief test pilot, Lockheed Skunk Works; first flights of U-2, F-104 Starfighter, XF-90<\/td><\/tr>
First Flights<\/td>U-2 (1955), F-104 Starfighter (1954), XF-90 jet interceptor (1949), P-80 Shooting Star (1944)<\/td><\/tr>
Skunk Works<\/td>Lockheed’s legendary advanced development program, led by Kelly Johnson<\/td><\/tr>
Born \/ Died<\/td>14 Feb 1913 \u2013 4 Feb 1998 (age 84)<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Tony
Tony-LeVier jet af \u2014 via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

LeVier had been Lockheed’s chief production test pilot since the 1940s, making first flights of aircraft that ranged from brilliant to borderline lethal. He flew the P-80 Shooting Star \u2014 America’s first operational jet fighter \u2014 when it was still a prototype. He flew the XF-90 experimental interceptor, which was structurally so stressed during testing that it was eventually used as a nuclear test target (it survived). He was chosen to fly the F-104 Starfighter because Kelly Johnson \u2014 Lockheed’s legendary aircraft designer \u2014 trusted him with anything.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Lockheed
The Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady. Its distinctive long, glider-like wings gave it extraordinary high-altitude performance but made it notoriously difficult to land. (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The U-2 first flight, on that Nevada dry lake bed in 1955, was conducted in complete secrecy at a facility the CIA called “The Ranch” \u2014 later known as Area 51. LeVier’s job was to fly it, evaluate it, and report back. What he discovered that first day was that the U-2’s extreme high-altitude performance made it almost impossible to control in descent \u2014 the wings produced so much lift at altitude that the aircraft floated indefinitely. He solved the problem by deploying the speed brakes and diving. The fix worked. The U-2 went on to become the most important reconnaissance aircraft of the Cold War.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n