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Was this "selfie" literally taken handheld with a cell phone by the person in the shot? Surely they wouldn't bring personal phones into the cockpit- and wouldn

by evan_ 4y ago

Was this "selfie" literally taken handheld with a cell phone by the person in the shot? Surely they wouldn't bring personal phones into the cockpit- and wouldn't they be wearing gloves anyway?

hgsgm 4y ago
It's probably more of a dashcam.
hotpotamus 4y ago
I haven't seen the new Top Gun, but I do remember a scene from the old one where they took a polaroid camera along with them in the cockpit. I don't know how realistic that was, but it seems plausible. Certainly I know of tons of soldiers who carried personal cameras to Iraq back in the day. You'd think a U-2 would be pretty locked down as far as what pilots are allowed to have, but it wasn't exactly a super secret mission over a foreign country either. It's an interesting question.
- Breza 4y ago
  DOD has a bunch of PR teams. If a commander wants a photo from a mission and said photo passes review, it can be released. Check out some of the Air Force's excellent public photos here: https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/ https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/
Alupis 4y ago
Given this was officially released from the DoD, I'd strongly wager this photo op was planned in advance. Which would make it very unlikely to be a personal cell phone or similar civilian device.
Karawebnetwork 4y ago
"The Standard Flying Gloves worn by American military aviators since the 1960s are also touch screen compatible." https://gibson-barnes.com/product/apparel/flying-gloves/touchscreen-flying-gloves/touch-screen-flying-gloves/ https://gibson-barnes.com/product/apparel/flying-gloves/touc... (sorry for using a random store as a source) Given that we often see USAF pilot selfies online, it's clearly allowed at (special?) times. But as others have said, this was probably asked specifically for PR reasons.
- yencabulator 4y ago
  U-2 isn't just some random plane. They wear essentially space suits. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a30362885/u-2-moon-suit/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a30362885...
yencabulator 4y ago
> and wouldn't they be wearing gloves anyway? Pro-tip, Android phones can usually take a photo by double-pressing power and then using volume up or down as shutter button. Works without unlocking, easy to do with gloves on or in the dark.
btilly 4y ago
The plane was at 70,000 feet, the balloon at 60,000. So that's about 2 miles below. My cellphone does not take photos that good from 2 miles away, how about yours? So no, not a cellphone. The U2 plane travels at about 500 mph and can't change that. (Look up "coffin corner" for why.) So even once you carefully place it to cast the shadow just right from 2 miles away, you have less than 0.2 seconds to get the photo with the plane's shadow placed on the balloon. That's a very, very impressive photo!
- justin66 4y ago
  > The plane was at 70,000 feet, the balloon at 60,000. It was quite a bit closer. Just look at the sizes of various things in that photograph (the length of the plane's shadow vs. the length of the wingtip, both those vs the diameter of the balloon, etc.). If you read 70,000 somewhere, that's because they were quoting the plane's service ceiling.
- evan_ 4y ago
  I can photograph the ground from a commercial airplane window, so yes my phone can take pictures of things much further than 2 miles away. Distance from the subject isn’t really all that important provided it’s big enough, lit well and you can focus to infinity. The timing is tricky but 2/10 of a second isn’t an unthinkably brief window for snapping a photo, and if you use burst capture it’s trivial.
lardo 4y ago
The resolution on the photo [1] released matches the sensor used in the Sony Alpha 7R and Nikon D800. [1] https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7644960/u-2-pilot-over-central-continental-united-states https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7644960/u-2-pilot-over-centra...

by evan_ 4y ago

Was this "selfie" literally taken handheld with a cell phone by the person in the shot? Surely they wouldn't bring personal phones into the cockpit- and wouldn't they be wearing gloves anyway?

hgsgm 4y ago

It's probably more of a dashcam.

hotpotamus 4y ago

I haven't seen the new Top Gun, but I do remember a scene from the old one where they took a polaroid camera along with them in the cockpit. I don't know how realistic that was, but it seems plausible. Certainly I know of tons of soldiers who carried personal cameras to Iraq back in the day. You'd think a U-2 would be pretty locked down as far as what pilots are allowed to have, but it wasn't exactly a super secret mission over a foreign country either. It's an interesting question.

Breza 4y ago
DOD has a bunch of PR teams. If a commander wants a photo from a mission and said photo passes review, it can be released. Check out some of the Air Force's excellent public photos here: https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/ https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/

Alupis 4y ago

Given this was officially released from the DoD, I'd strongly wager this photo op was planned in advance. Which would make it very unlikely to be a personal cell phone or similar civilian device.

Karawebnetwork 4y ago

"The Standard Flying Gloves worn by American military aviators since the 1960s are also touch screen compatible." https://gibson-barnes.com/product/apparel/flying-gloves/touchscreen-flying-gloves/touch-screen-flying-gloves/ https://gibson-barnes.com/product/apparel/flying-gloves/touc... (sorry for using a random store as a source) Given that we often see USAF pilot selfies online, it's clearly allowed at (special?) times. But as others have said, this was probably asked specifically for PR reasons.

yencabulator 4y ago
U-2 isn't just some random plane. They wear essentially space suits. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a30362885/u-2-moon-suit/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a30362885...

yencabulator 4y ago

> and wouldn't they be wearing gloves anyway? Pro-tip, Android phones can usually take a photo by double-pressing power and then using volume up or down as shutter button. Works without unlocking, easy to do with gloves on or in the dark.

btilly 4y ago

The plane was at 70,000 feet, the balloon at 60,000. So that's about 2 miles below. My cellphone does not take photos that good from 2 miles away, how about yours? So no, not a cellphone. The U2 plane travels at about 500 mph and can't change that. (Look up "coffin corner" for why.) So even once you carefully place it to cast the shadow just right from 2 miles away, you have less than 0.2 seconds to get the photo with the plane's shadow placed on the balloon. That's a very, very impressive photo!

justin66 4y ago
> The plane was at 70,000 feet, the balloon at 60,000. It was quite a bit closer. Just look at the sizes of various things in that photograph (the length of the plane's shadow vs. the length of the wingtip, both those vs the diameter of the balloon, etc.). If you read 70,000 somewhere, that's because they were quoting the plane's service ceiling.
evan_ 4y ago
I can photograph the ground from a commercial airplane window, so yes my phone can take pictures of things much further than 2 miles away. Distance from the subject isn’t really all that important provided it’s big enough, lit well and you can focus to infinity. The timing is tricky but 2/10 of a second isn’t an unthinkably brief window for snapping a photo, and if you use burst capture it’s trivial.

lardo 4y ago

The resolution on the photo [1] released matches the sensor used in the Sony Alpha 7R and Nikon D800. [1] https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7644960/u-2-pilot-over-central-continental-united-states https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7644960/u-2-pilot-over-centra...