Landing gear
The U-2 has a bicycle-type landing gear, consisting of one main landing gear (2 wheels) and a tail gear (2 wheels). The airplane does also have 2 wing gears but they are dropped when the aircraft takes-off. Caused by this type of landing gear the airplane requires precise control inputs during landing. Because there is also a limited forward visibility due to the extended nose, a second U-2 pilot drives in a high-performance vehicle behind the U-2 for approaching, providing the pilot flying with radio inputs for altitude and runway alignment.

Wings
The wings of the U-2 has a very high aspect ratio (A). Thanks to this, the airplane has lower induced drag resulting in a larger range and performance to fly at high altitudes and at lower speeds than normal. Because of the larger wings the airplane has 2 wing gears on each side.

Specifications