# James May (of Top Gear) takes a trip in a U2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748 "2009-06-23T18:54:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/1 "2009-06-23T18:54:58Z")
Youtube video [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PmYItnlY5M). Just amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/2 "2009-06-24T09:02:47Z")
Thanks for the link. That was a very cool video. Those Top Gear guys get to do the coolest stuff. Their jobs rival dolphin trainer on the cool scale. I’m glad that they had James go on the flight instead of Richard or Jeremy (and not just because we have the same last name). Richard _might_ have been OK but Jeremy probably just would have snarked the whole time. I particularly liked the way he got choked up while trying to describe it. I also liked that Major Whatisname wore glasses and wasn’t a Tom Cruise clone. It showed that geeks are capable of extraordinary feats too. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/3 "2009-06-24T13:33:51Z")
I’m kicking myself for not having recorded it. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/4 "2009-06-24T14:19:46Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] I’m kicking myself for not having recorded it. [/QUOTE] I’m really glad I did (on VHS mind you but I’ll save it to DVD tonight). One awsome bit was looking seeing the airliner flying 30,000 feet _beneath them_. I can’t watch the Youtube right now (at work), do I remember him having to do a whole load of training before going up? We know Captain Slow is a pilot but I guess he’s never gone up in something he might have to eject from, or had to wear a space suit. There is a BBC4 “making of” type program I guess that is what is in that show. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/5 "2009-06-24T14:37:15Z")
> [@KRM](#): > > I’m glad that they had James go on the flight instead of Richard or Jeremy (and not just because we have the same last name). Richard _might_ have been OK but Jeremy probably just would have snarked the whole time. The clip is not from Top Gear, but from May’s own documentary called [James May on the Moon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May_on_the_Moon). ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/6 "2009-06-24T21:54:58Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > The clip is not from Top Gear, but from May’s own documentary called [James May on the Moon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May_on_the_Moon). Ignorance fought. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to watch it unless they happen to show it on BBC America. The BBC website only allows those in the UK to watch their videos. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/7 "2009-06-25T18:43:51Z")
That’s awesome. How do I get that job, man?! I wanna do that. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/8 "2009-06-25T19:07:18Z")
Richard Branson should buy one of those two seat U-2 trainers and ditch the whole the Virgin Galactic idea…sounds like you get everything but the weightless experience in the U-2. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/9 "2009-06-25T19:23:56Z")
I had no idea there were U2s still flying. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/10 "2009-06-25T19:27:57Z")
James May has done some other very interesting BBC documentaries (listed on his [wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May)). The way he narrates and talks to the people he meets is what I like. (My favourites are his [series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_and_James%27s_Big_Wine_Adventure) [with](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_and_James_Drink_to_Britain) Oz Clarke, and his [recent science](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May%27s_20th_Century) series.) **KRM** : The Top Gear team all have very different styles that you need the right show for… Richard Hammond is apparently quite good at science shows for young audiences (I haven’t really watched any), and Jeremy Clarkson is amazing in his war documentaries. As a non-Brit, it’s a crying shame that the BBC doesn’t release any of their materiel in NTSC Region 1, or let me use their BBC iPlayer. (Though I have found ways of getting their shows regardless). ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/11 "2009-06-25T23:27:43Z")
first the bugatti Veyron and then a U2, what’s next? a threesome with MeganFox and Rhianna? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/12 "2009-06-26T06:45:35Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > James May has done some other very interesting BBC documentaries (listed on his [wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May)). The way he narrates and talks to the people he meets is what I like. (My favourites are his [series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_and_James%27s_Big_Wine_Adventure) [with](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_and_James_Drink_to_Britain) Oz Clarke, and his [recent science](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May%27s_20th_Century) series.) > > **KRM** : The Top Gear team all have very different styles that you need the right show for… Richard Hammond is apparently quite good at science shows for young audiences (I haven’t really watched any), and Jeremy Clarkson is amazing in his war documentaries. > > As a non-Brit, it’s a crying shame that the BBC doesn’t release any of their materiel in NTSC Region 1, or let me use their BBC iPlayer. (Though I have found ways of getting their shows regardless). Indeed. Now that I’ve seen the whole episode, I realize just what a lucky dog James May is. It doesn’t seem fair that the vast majority of us will never be able to relate to what he’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-may-of-top-gear-takes-a-trip-in-a-u2/500748/13 "2009-06-26T07:08:27Z")
The entire program was excellent. It again reinforced just what an insane idea it was at the time, and how brave and lucky they all were (Ed White et al excepted) - but sadly, what ancient history too. And the U2 part really was very moving - and what a cool pilot.