U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bobby Cummings Flying 70000 feet above the earth’s surface, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Merryl Tengesdal...
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| U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bobby Cummings |
A Bronx, N.Y. native, Tengesdal is a U-2 pilot and 9th Reconnaissance Wing inspector general who was recently selected for promotion to the rank of colonel.
Tengesdal has been deployed to multiple locations and has flown missions in support of Operation Olive Harvest in Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition, she has also aided in preventing terrorism and piracy in the Horn of Africa. Throughout her career, she has logged more than 3,400 flight hours and more than 330 combat hours.
First flown in 1955, the U-2 provides high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in direct support of U.S. national objectives. The aircraft enables the capture of imagery and delivers intelligence to decision makers worldwide.
These missions are often at altitudes equivalent to approximately 13 miles. Pilots are required to wear full pressure suits during flight, similar to those astronauts wear. According to many aviation experts, limited visibility caused by the required helmets, along with the U-2’s bicycle landing gear, makes it arguably the most difficult aircraft to land.
After high school, she attended the University of New Haven in Connecticut and graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. Afterward, she attended Officer Candidate School in the Navy, commissioned as an ensign in September 1994, and attended flight training shortly after.
The first aircraft she flew was the US Navy's SH-60B Seahawk helicopter, used for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, anti-ship warfare and special operations.
In 2004, Tengesdal followed her dream of flying higher and cross-commissioned into the Air Force, joining less than 1,000 pilots to join the U-2 program at Beale.
The U-2 pilot training is a rigorous nine-month course. Every candidate must conduct training missions aboard the TU-2S, a dual seat trainer aircraft located only at Beale. A solo high-flight occurs as a final challenge. Upon completion, pilots are often deployed around the world.
The U-2 is very sensitive to crosswinds which, together with its tendency to float over the runway, makes the aircraft notoriously difficult to land. As it approaches the runway, the cushion of air provided by the high-lift wings in ground effectis so pronounced that the U-2 will not land unless the wing is fully stalled.
A landing U-2 is accompanied on the ground by a chase car and an assisting U-2 pilot calling off the angles and declining aircraft height as the aircraft descends.
Aug. 1, 2015, will mark the 60th anniversary of the U-2; making it one of the few aircraft to operate in the USAF for more than 50 years, which include the B-52 Strategic Bomber, C-130J and Ch-47 Chinook helicopter.
