The Ise & Fall OF Francis Gary Powers
( The Rise & Fall Of Francis Gary Powers) Francis Gary Powers had been a news and traffic reporter for a couple of radio and TV stations in Los Angeles during the 1970's. A more notable claim to fame was that Powers had been the pilot of a U-2 spy-plane that had been shot down, his rise and fall, over Soviet territory on May 1st, 1960. The U-2 is usually a high-altitude platform, making it ideal for photo reconnaissance over hostile territory, like Soviet airspace. Powers' aircraft could not maintain its cruise level and descended into the operational envelop of Soviet air defenses, where the U-2 was engaged and shot down. Powers ejected and was captured, tried, was convicted in a Soviet court and spent three years in prison and another seven at hard labor. As mentioned, Powers ended up in L.A. as an airborne traffic reporter and then a news station. Power's U-2, or what was left of it, had been quickly secured by Soviet security services and was thoroughly exami...