Flight above 60,000 ft

On Jul 28, 7:52 pm, Charles Talleyrand wrote:
I just picked up a used U-2. It's quite a hoot to fly, but I'm having
some trouble. Maybe you can help me out.

1) When I go cruising above 60,000 ft I cancel my IFR clearance. Then
I buzz around a bit. But how do I come back down legally? Obviously
I need an IFR clearance to decend back down to FL 590, but Center does
not have to grant my request for a sudden IFR clearance. I have
limited fuel. What should I do?

2) While I'm up above FL 600, I'm self-seperating from the other
traffic. But my friend also has a U-2 and we sometimes frequent the
same airspace. It's nearly impossible to see another plane with a
closure rate of 1,200 mph, and U-2s don't have TCAS. Can I request
flight following at these altitudes, just for the help with
separation?

File with Nasa. No-one else is able to get up to you :-)