Physics goof

Depends. I have to admit to being very cynical about the way that sequence was portrayed until I heard Powers' description on of it and actually, it wasn't that far removed from the truth. He says that during the sequence he was part of the way out of the aircraft and couldn't reach the destruct switch but he doesn't say he was riding on the spine of the machine, behind the cockpit! He sort of described how the aircraft was coming down around him while he was hanging from his parachute but not in quite the same way as portrayed in the film. I agree with you that it is highly improbably in some ways but if you read enough accounts by people who have had to bail out or eject, many talk about how the aircraft pieces were coming past them. A human body falls at 200 - 300 km/h, depending on whether it's head down, tumbling or just falling flat. An aircraft in a flat spin might not fall that fast.

One thing though, the shots of him flying the aircraft during the photography pass are for dramatic effect only. The U-2 cannot be hand flown at its operating altitude.

Honestly, Powers probably lied. I would. What's worse, lying and living or being a "coward"?

Interesting but Minor Point.

Enrique Sanchez

Plane has greater air resistance, esp because it was designed as a plane, and the U2 was also veey light. In comparison, the ejected pilot is like a stone, so he falls faster due to less air resistance.

If anything, I thought the opposite. The plane is shown to be so unstable that it falls directly downward, like a dart. In reality there would be some resistance and it might regain some lift. Planes' wings are designed such that relative airflow makes the wings go 'up'. When pointed straight downward, 'up' means to the side in an arc sort of like a pendulum. This makes them tend to recover from a dive eventually. Some moreso than others.

In any case it isn't strange that a human body would fall with less resistance than an aircraft.