At the same time, a special group of pilots was undergoing training.
President Eisenhower was worried about the possibility of an American citizen being killed or captured during an overflight. This would generate tremendous political problems. Eisenhower told CIA director Allen Dulles, "It would seem that you could be able to recruit some Russians or pilots of other nationalities." Eventually, one Polish and four Greek pilots were recruited. The Greek pilots underwent training at the Ranch, but all washed out. The Polish pilot was never allowed to fly the U-2.[67]
The third group underwent training in late 1956. The group suffered two crashes, one fatal. In December, Bob Ericson was flying at 35,000 feet when his oxygen ran out. As he began to lose consciousness, the aircraft began to overspeed and go out of control. Ericson fought his way out of the cockpit and parachuted to a landing in Arizona. Less fortunate was Frank Grace. He took off on a night training mission, became disoriented, and flew into a telephone pole at the end of the runway. Grace died in the crash.[68]
Training operations followed a pattern. The pilots arrived at Groom Lake on the Monday morning flight. They turned in their IDs, which gave their true names and described them as pilots with Lockheed, then assumed the cover names. Each pilot would make two or three U-2 flights per week.
Then, on Friday afternoon, the pilots left the site to spend the weekend in Los Angeles.
While at the Ranch, the pilots lived in trailers, four in each. Powers called "Watertown Strip," which was the pilots' name for the site, "one of those 'you can't get there from here' places." The population had grown from about 20, at the time of the first flight, to around 150 air force personnel, Lockheed maintenance crews, and CIA guards. A third hangar had been added, as had more trailers. The Ranch was still a remote desert airstrip.
The growing numbers of U-2s were parked on the hard-packed dirt on the edge of the lake bed; there was no concrete apron. U-2 takeoffs and landings were made from the lake bed. The whole facility was temporary; it was never built to last.[69]
Amusements were limited. There was no PX or Officers' Club. The mess hall, however, was likened to a first-class civilian cafeteria. The food was excellent and second helpings were available. The mess hall also had several pool tables. A sixteen-millimeter projector provided nightly movies. Given the isolation of the site, the pilots were forced to create their own entertainment. Alcohol was freely available and consumed in abundance. Marathon poker games were also organized by the pilots.
The first group of pilots scrounged up gunpowder, woodshavings, and cigar tubes to build small rockets. They made a satisfying "woosh" when launched, but the fun ended when one nearly hit a C-131 transport in the landing pattern.[70]
From time to time, official visitors would come to Groom Lake. In December 1955, Defense Secretary Charles Wilson was shown around the Skunk Works and the Ranch. Allen Dulles also visited the Ranch and met with the first group of pilots.
The only "outsiders" allowed into Groom Lake were the C-124 transport crews, and they did not know where they were. The production U-2s were […] or Oildale, California, near Bakersfield. The factory was a tin-roofed warehouse called "Unit 80."
During 1956 and 1957, the aircraft were completed, then disassembled, covered, and taken to a local airport, where they were loaded on the C-124s.
It was important that no one know the Ranch's location, so the flights were made at night. The crew was instructed to fly to a point on the California-Nevada border, then contact "Sage Control." The radio voice would tell them not to acknowledge further transmissions. The C-124 would then be given new headings and altitudes. Soon the crew would be contacted by "Delta," who would tell them to start descending into the black desert night.
The voice would then tell the transport's crew to lower their flaps and landing gear. Yet their maps showed no civilian or military airports in the area, only empty desert. Then the runway lights would come on, and Delta would clear them to land. Following the landing, the runway lights would be turned off and a "follow me" truck would direct them to a parking spot. The buildings were visible only as lights in the distance. A group of tight-lipped men with names like "Smith" would unload the U-2.[71]
Once delivered to Groom Lake, the U-2s would be reassembled and test flown. The process would be reversed when the time came to send the U-2s to their overseas bases.
The need for intelligence on the Soviet Union had grown since the start of the U-2 program. The pace of Soviet nuclear testing was picking up. The Soviets had also staged mass flybys of Mya-4 and Tu-95 bombers. Estimates began to appear that the Soviets would soon have upwards of five hundred to eight hundred Mya-4s. So began the "bomber gap" controversy.
The problem was that these estimates were based on fragmentary data; they were little better than guesses. There was no way to know.
Eisenhower made two efforts — one political, the other clandestine — to gain intelligence. At the July 1955 Geneva Summit, he made the "Open Skies" proposal. The United States and Soviets would be allowed to overfly each others' territory as a guard against surprise attack. Eisenhower also believed such an effort would be a step toward disarmament. The Soviets, relying on secrecy to hide their military strengths and weaknesses, rejected the proposal.[72]
The other effort was the Genetrix reconnaissance balloon program. The plan, which had been in development since 1950, envisioned the launch of some twenty-five hundred Skyhook balloons, carrying camera gondolas from England, Norway, West Germany, and Turkey. The balloons would drift across the Soviet Union on the winter jet stream. The large number would cover nearly all of the Soviet land mass. The randomly drifting balloons could not cover specific targets, but this did not matter. The Soviet Union was a huge blank. Once clear of Soviet airspace, the gondolas would be cut free of the balloons by radio signals. As the gondolas descended by parachutes, they would be caught in midair by specially equipped C-119 transports.
The Genetrix launches began on January 10, 1956. For the first two weeks, the loss rate of the balloons was acceptable and the Soviets made no protest. By late January and early February, however, the balloons were no longer making it through. Soviet air defenses were able to stop the high-flying intruders. On February 6, following a Soviet protest, Eisenhower ordered the balloon launches halted. In all, only 448 balloons were launched; of these, 44 gondolas were successfully recovered. These provided 13,813 photos covering 1,116,449 square miles of the USSR and China […] percent of their total land mass).[73] This daring and desperate at-the U-2's turn.
By early April 1956, flight training of the first group of CIA pilots was completed and the new J57-31 engine had proven itself virtually immune to flameouts. The U-2s, pilots, and ground crews were sent to Lakenheath, England. The unusual looking plane soon attracted attention. The June 1, 1956, issue of Flight carried a report of a sighting over Lakenheath. It stated, "In the sky, it looks like the war-time Horsa glider. He believes it to have one jet engine and reports a high tailplane and unswept wings of high-aspect ratio."