RQ-4, OQ-2, OQ-3, OQ-7, OQ-13, OQ-14, and TDD
Role Target drone
National origin United States
Manufacturer Radioplane
First flight 1939
Primary user USAAF
Number built ca. 15,000

The Radioplane OQ-2 was the first mass-produced UAV or drone in the United States, manufactured by the Radioplane Company. A follow-on version, the OQ-3, became the most widely used target drone in US service, with over 9,400 being built during World War II.

History

Marilyn Monroe with an RP-5's propeller

The OQ-2 was originally a small radio controlled aircraft model designed by Walter Righter. The design, along with its engine design, was purchased by actor Reginald Denny, who had demonstrated another model to the US Army in 1940. Calling the new design the RP-2, he demonstrated several updated versions to the Army as the RP-2, RP-3 and RP-4 in 1939.[1]

In 1940, the Army placed an order for 53 RP-4s (some sources refer to the RP-4 as OQ-1. but that designation was never assigned). This small order led to a much bigger 1941 order for the similar RP-5, which became the US Army OQ-2, the OQ meaning a "subscale target". The US Navy also bought the drone, designating it TDD-1, for Target Drone, Denny, 1. Thousands were built, manufactured at the Radioplane plant at the Van Nuys Airport in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

It was at this factory on June 26, 1945, that Army photographer David Conover saw a young woman assembler named Norma Jeane Dougherty, who he thought had potential as a model. She was photographed in the plant, which led to a screen test for Norma Jeane, who soon changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.[2]

Description and variants

The OQ-2 is a simple aircraft, powered by a two-cylinder two-cycle piston engine, providing 6 horsepower (4.5 kW) and driving two contra-rotating propellers. The RC control system was built by Bendix. Launching was by catapult only and recovered by parachute should it survive the target practice. The landing gear was used only on the OQ-2 versions as sold to the Army to cushion the landing by parachute. None of the drones including the improved variants shipped to the Navy had landing gear. The subsequent variants delivered to the Army did not have landing gear.

The OQ-2 led to a series of similar but improved variants, with the OQ-3 / TDD-2 and OQ-14 / TDD-3 produced in quantity. A number of other target drones were built by Radioplane (including licensed contractors) and competing companies during the war, most of which never got beyond prototype stage, which accounts for the gaps in the designation sequence between "OQ-3" and "OQ-14".

After World War II ended, various experiment were made with Radioplane target drones. In one experiment in 1950, a derivative of the QQ-3 Radioplane drone was used to lay military communication wire.[3]

During the war Radioplane manufactured nearly fifteen thousand drones. The company was bought by Northrop in 1952.

Surviving aircraft

OQ-2 on display at the Aviation Unmanned Vehicle Museum

Specifications (OQ-2)

General characteristics

  • Length: 8 ft 8 in (2.65 m)
  • Wingspan: 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
  • Gross weight: 104 lb (47 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Righter O-15-1 , 7 hp (5 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 85 mph (137 km/h, 74 kn)
  • Endurance: 1 hour

See also

Related lists

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Parker 2013, pp. 129–30
  2. ↑ Parker 2013, pp. 5, 7–10, 13, 59, 131–2
  3. ↑ "Drone Plane Lays Wire" Popular Mechanics, October 1950, p. 96
  4. ↑ "Radioplane OQ-2A". National Museum of the United States Air Force. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "[Untitled]". March Field Air Museum. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "BGM-34B ATTACK & MULTI-MISSION RPV". AUVM. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Trzaskos, Brian (March–April 2020), "Newest Acquisition: Radioplane Drone" (PDF), Hangar Tales, vol. 25, no. 2, retrieved 13 October 2020
  8. ↑ "Radioplane RP-5A Target Drone". Western Museum of Flight. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "Object Record [Target Drone]". National Model Aviation Museum. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Naughton, Russell; Joiner, Stephen (April 2016). "The AMA History Project Presents: Biography of Reginald Leigh Denny" (PDF). Academy of Model Aeronautics. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Drones: Is the Sky the Limit? Educators Guide". Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Complex. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  12. ↑ "OQ-2A Radio Controlled Target Unit (1941-1950)". Museum of the American G.I. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "Aircraft". Air and Military Museum of the Ozarks. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Radioplane OQ-3". Pima Air & Space Museum. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  15. ↑ "Fuselage, Drone, Target, Radioplane OQ-14". National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  16. ↑ "Right Wing, Drone, Target, Radioplane OQ-14". National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  17. ↑ "Left Wing, Drone, Target, Radioplane OQ-14". National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 19 July 2023.

Bibliography

  • Parker, Dana T. (2013), Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II, Cypress, CA, ISBN 978-0-9897906-0-4{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

This article contains material that originally came from the web article Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.

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