Editor:
Your recent article about the “Dragon Lady” and its interesting arrival at the Cortez airport sparked a rush of memories from my own experience 50-odd years ago. My cousin, Robert L. Primrose, was also a U-2 pilot and one of the first to fly the aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. He would agree that the U-2 was a difficult plane to fly, but he would argue that it could not reach the speed which was claimed in your article. In fact, its operating window was nearly 2,000 mph slower than the 2,435 mph indicated in the article. Nevertheless, it was an excellent reconnaissance platform and still performs a vital function in that role.
Unfortunately, Robert was killed on Sept. 18, 1964, while preparing to land at Davis-Monthan AFB. My love and respect linger.
David Primrose
Omaha, Neb.