There aren’t many current and former U-2 spy plane pilots in the world, but I recently had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with one of them.

Stan Rauch, who turns 80 this month, grew up at Lake Preston, South Dakota. He and his wife, Mary, live on an acreage in the Lake Whitewood, South Dakots, area.

“My dad was a commercial pilot who also ran a crop-dusting business,” Stan said. “Dad was my first flight instructor; I got my private pilot’s license when I was 19.”

After high school, Stan enrolled at South Dakota State University where he majored in wildlife management. He also joined the Air Force ROTC.

“I knew that I wanted to be a pilot, and the Air Force offered that opportunity,” Stan said. “After graduating from college, they trained me to fly the F-4 Phantom.”

The Phantom is a two-seat interceptor fighter-bomber that can reach speeds of up to Mach 2.2. After completing his training, Stan was sent to Vietnam where he completed 185 missions in the Phantom.

“On my second mission, my Phantom and another Phantom were tasked with striking an enemy position in Cambodia,” Stan said. “We had completed one run on our target and were starting our second run when the Phantom ahead of me had its right wing blown off by antiaircraft artillery. The lead Phantom instantly smashed into the ground. Its crew didn’t have a chance.”

Despite this close call, Stan completed his two-year tour of duty in Vietnam without receiving so much as a scratch.

“I guess I was lucky,” he said.

After his stint in Vietnam, Stan was sent off to be trained to fly the U-2 spy plane.

“The U-2 is the Air Force’s most difficult plane to land,” Stan said. “It has a 104-foot wingspan, and its landing gear is only three feet wide. It’s like riding a bicycle with a 25-foot two-by-four strapped to the handlebars. It’s difficult to see out of the cockpit, so each time you land another U-2 pilot has to speed down the runway in a chase car and call out your altitude.”

The U-2 can reach altitudes in excess of 70,000 feet, twice as high as commercial jetliners fly.

“The cockpit of the U-2 is pressurized to 29,000 feet, so the pilot has to wear a suit that’s similar to what an astronaut would wear,” Stan said. “You breathe pure oxygen for an hour prior to your flight to drive all the nitrogen out of your blood. You also breathe 100% oxygen during the flight. This is so that you don’t get the bends in the event of a rapid depressurization or a high-altitude bail-out.”

There are inherent dangers involved with flying a U-2, but there are also some rewards.

“When you’re at altitude you can see the curve of the earth. And the sky is totally black when you look straight up,” Stan said. “You’re flying above the weather so there isn’t any wind. It’s very peaceful.”

During his 14 years as a U-2 pilot, Stan flew intelligence gathering missions out of such places as Cyprus, England, and Korea. Each mission can cover up to 7,000 miles and can last as long as 14 hours. But it was while he was stationed at Osan Air Base, Korea that Stan had a close call.

“I had taken up a U-2 for a check flight after it had been serviced,” he said. “As I lined up for a landing, I discovered that the plane had suffered a total hydraulic failure. I couldn’t deploy the flaps or the spoilers that are normally used to slow the plane down while landing.

“I touched down and pumped the brakes twice and learned that I also had no brakes. I did a go-around and lined back up on the runway, trying to get as close as I could to the threshold.

“Once I touched down the U-2 didn’t want to stop. I was headed for some equipment at the end of the runway, so I cranked the plane to the left and the wing caught a ship’s anchor chain that was used as a guardrail. A small section of the wing sheared off and I finally ground to a halt. The damage to the plane wasn’t serious; they had it back in the air a few days later.”

After 23 years in the Air Force, Stan retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Nowadays, he might drive tractor for a neighboring farmer and continues to pursue his passion for bow hunting.

“I had a wonderful career in the Air Force,” Stan said. “I am thankful that everything fell into place and that I had no major mishaps.”

— Jerry’s book, “Dear County Agent Guy” can be found at www.workman.com and in bookstores nationwide.