The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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Secret ~OFORl'J
Appendix E
340
Project AQUILINE
Corporation for chainsaws. the aircraft's designed speed was 60 knots
at an altitude of 1.000 feet with a 15-pound payload. The air•::raft
could fly at this speed for up to 30 hours, thanks to the engine's ex­
tremely high fuel efficiency: 480 nautical miles per gallon of fuel.
In 1968 tests on an AQUILINE prototype at Randsburg Wash on
the US Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake,
California, showed that the aircraft was extremely difficult to see:. To
assist pilots of chase aircraft in keeping AQUILINE in sight, its entire
upper surface was painted bright orange: even so. sighting remained
difficult.
The 1esting process was very hard on AQUILINE because it was
recovered by flying it into a net close to the ground. which almos:t al­
ways caused some damage to the wings or propeller. As a result, one
Secret