[pavulon]

Had a long conversation with the pilot today. Turns out he was B-52 pilot for a time. He talked about how the nuc's they carried were all very similar or identical, all pre-programmed for the targets assigned to them and varied in destructive power according to their destinations. He didn't have a ton to say about the U-2s other than it was pretty weird to "climb up to 70,000 feet, shut everything off and disappear". The other thing he mentioned was having to "pull the shades" at cruising altitude in order to keep cockpit temps reasonable.

The plane he crashed is mounted on a pole at Beale AFB. His version of "exiting the plane" involved a 15-20 ft launch from his seat directly followed by a 15-20 ft return to earth landing on his back between a wing and the fuselage.

All in all, he remains a very modest fellow.