Started From the Bottom: How We Hung the Lockheed U-2C Spy Plane

The Lockheed U-2 is an iconic spy plane that first flew in 1955. The U-2 originated from the high tensions of the early Cold War, and the aircraft—returning on display at the Museum on the National Mall this year—was the first U-2 to fly over the Soviet Union in 1956. Modern variants of the U-2 still fly today. With an 80-foot wingspan, we wanted to make sure that the aircraft was displayed in an area that was prominent and could fit something of its size. Our design team decided that the best place to hang the aircraft would be over our second-floor mezzanine in front of the upcoming Modern Military gallery. The building’s layout presented some challenges. The second floor consists of a main walkway on the south side, with a bridge going across the building leading to the gallery entrance. This complex layout led to one of our most complicated installations to date.

Lifting the Aircraft

The minimal floor space underneath the final display location of the U-2 required us to attach the left wing to the forward fuselage on the first floor of the Museum. We then lifted the partially assembled aircraft up to the second floor and traversed it eastward towards its final location. It seems easy on paper, but this is where we first ran into some challenges.

Weight and Balance

Since the aircraft was only semi-built and not designed to ever be lifted in this configuration, we had several weight and balance issues. The first being that our main lifting points are in the fuselage, and we needed a way to support the left wing in the air until the right wing was installed to balance the aircraft. Our fabrication team built a special fixture to gently clamp (like a clamshell) around the wing, giving us a safe lifting point.

Our aircraft’s engine had also been removed. This reduced the overall weight of the object, which in turn lightened the load on our ceiling (without the engine, the U-2 weighs 6,500 pounds, but this isn’t even half the weight of our heaviest object, which is the DC-3 at a whooping 17,000 pounds), but it left our aircraft extremely nose heavy. Just the left wing is not enough weight on the back half of the U-2 to balance out the nose, so we had to add 1,600 pounds of ballast into the back of the fuselage. With both problems solved, we were then ready to lift the aircraft and move it into its next position.

The Big Move

To move the aircraft into position, our team used a technique known as trapezing. This method involves using a series of chain motors to lift and laterally shift the artifact. By carefully transferring the aircraft’s weight from one set of motors to the next, we were able to move it sideways through the air. At this point, we were lifting just over 6,000 pounds, so we carefully monitored the weight on each chain motor to make sure we didn’t overload our equipment or the roof. After two full days and over thirty chain motors, the aircraft was finally in position to finish assembly.

Assembly

With the nose of the airplane now centered in the middle of the second floor walking bridge, we could lower the plane below the glass handrails to finish assembly. We had previously lifted the right wing to the second floor and placed it onto an electric lifting platform called the Mite-E-Lift (This piece of equipment is vital for many of our installs and is old enough to be an artifact itself. It was used during the original construction of this building 50 years ago and is not made anymore. She is considered the oldest and most experienced member of our shop!) By lifting and lowering the fuselage using the chain motors and the wing with the Mite-E-Lift, we were able to get the appropriate height and angle to connect these two pieces together. We then sent some of our aircraft specialists to crawl inside of the fuselage to tighten all the bolts.

Once the wing was installed, we lifted the aircraft above the hand railings and shifted it forward to create space for the installation of the tail components. First, the rear section of the fuselage was aligned and bolted to the forward section that was already supporting the wings. To install the horizontal stabilizer, we used a chain motor to lift it about six feet and moved it onto the aircraft. The vertical stabilizer had to be lifted from the first floor to a height above the tail. We then trapezed the aft end of the aircraft directly underneath it. Once aligned, we lowered the vertical stabilizer onto the fuselage and bolted it in place. With that, the last of the major components were installed onto the airplane and we could move it into its final position.

Started from the Bottom Now We’re Here

After we trapezed the aircraft into its final display position, we transferred the load from its temporary rigging on the chain motors to permanent suspension cables. We then did our final finishing touches on the aircraft, took down all our equipment, and after three and a half weeks of work, the U-2 is in its new home and will be on display when the Museum in Washington, DC, fully reopens later this year!

Bonus: Timelapse Video