March 2018
A highlight of the LA County Airshow were a series of flybys by this unique NASA aircraft, a derivative of the classic U-2 spyplane known as the ER-2 (Earth Resources 2), based at the Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) and used for high-altitude civilian research. NASA flies two of these specially modified aircraft. The equipment bays and wing pods carry up to 15 specialized instruments. NASA’s ER-2 set a weight-class world-altitude record on Nov. 19, 1998, when the aircraft reached 68,700 feet. Nikon D500 w/Tamron 150-600mm.