[ditn]

When I was a teenager I was in the Air Training Corps, and I was lucky enough to be selected for a "camp" at RAF Akrotiri.

Several U2 spyplanes are stationed there (along with the Red Arrows during off-season), and we were treated to watching them come and go to operations presumably in the middle-east. Watching them land was incredible as they appear to move incredibly slowly and touch down very gently. They're also amongst the noisiest aircraft I've ever been around.

One of the commanding officers organised a camp photo infront of one of the U2s - we were shuttled outside a hangar with this enormous plane behind us. We were told we were strictly not allowed on the other side of the aircraft that they had "sanitised" for us as not to reveal any state secrets, somehow.

I still have that photo, it's a great one, but it's also technically OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE and we're not allowed to show it to anyone. Our "official" camp photo was infront of the Red Arrows, which would have been cool enough - but our secret photo was cooler.