HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Radioplane OQ-2 was the first mass-produced
UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...
or drone in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, manufactured by the
Radioplane Company The Radioplane Company was an American aviation company that produced drone aircraft primarily for use as gunnery targets. During World War II, they produced over 9,400 of their Radioplane OQ-3 model, a propeller-powered monoplane, making it th ...
. A follow-on version, the OQ-3, became the most widely used
target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operation ...
in US service, with over 9,400 being built during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


History

The OQ-2 was originally a
radio-controlled Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely operate a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a small h ...
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 The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
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. 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 The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
also bought the drone, designating it TDD-1, for ''Target Drone, Denny, 1''. Thousands were built, manufactured at the
Radioplane The Radioplane Company was an American aviation company that produced drone aircraft primarily for use as gunnery targets. During World War II, they produced over 9,400 of their Radioplane OQ-3 model, a propeller-powered monoplane, making it th ...
plant at the
Van Nuys Airport Van Nuys Airport is a public airport in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. The airport is operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a branch of the Los Angeles city government, which also operates Los Angeles Internat ...
in the
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
metropolitan area. It was at this factory on June 26, 1945, that David Conover, an Army photographer, shot pictures of a young woman assembler named Norma Jeane Dougherty. Thinking she had potential as a model, he invited her to pose, and his encouragment led her to pursue work at a modeling agency, where her success prompted her to take a screen test and begin an acting career as
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...
.


Description and variants

The OQ-2 is a simple aircraft, powered by a two-cylinder two-cycle piston engine, providing and driving two contra-rotating propellers. The RC control system was built by
Bendix Bendix may refer to: People First name * Bendix Hallenstein (1835–1905), New Zealand businessman Middle name * Kim Bendix Petersen (born 1956), Danish singer known by the stage name King Diamond Last name * John E. Bendix (1835–1905), Ame ...
. 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. 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
National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...
in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
. * OQ-2 on display at the
March Field Air Museum The March Field Air Museum is an aviation museum near Moreno Valley, California, Moreno Valley and Riverside, California, located at March Air Reserve Base. History The museum was founded in 1979 as March Air Force Base Museum. One of the first e ...
in
Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...
. * OQ-2 on display at the
Aviation Unmanned Vehicle Museum The Aviation Unmanned Vehicle Museum is an aviation museum located at the Caddo Mills Municipal Airport in Caddo Mills, Texas focused on the history of unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft syst ...
in
Caddo Mills, Texas Caddo Mills ( ) is a rural city in Hunt County, Texas located at the western edge of Northeast Texas. The population was 1,495 at the 2020 census, up from 1,338 at the 2010 census. History Before settlers arrived, the area was the site of a Cadd ...
. * OQ-2 or OQ-3 on display at the
National Warplane Museum The National Warplane Museum is a warbird and military history museum currently located on the grounds of the Geneseo Airport in Geneseo, New York. Founded in 1994, the museum restores, flies, and displays vintage military aircraft from the Second ...
in
Geneseo, New York Geneseo is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, United States. It is at the south end of the five-county Rochester metropo ...
. * RP-5A on display at the
Western Museum of Flight The Western Museum of Flight (WMOF) is an aviation museum located at Zamperini Field, the municipal airport in Torrance, California. WMOF is operated by the Southern California Historical Aviation Foundation. It houses not only historic aircraft ...
in
Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...
. * OQ-2A on display at the National Model Aviation Museum in
Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...
. * OQ-2A on display at the Museum of the American G.I. in
College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States, situated in East-Central Texas in the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin, ...
. * OQ-2A on display at the Air and Military Museum of the Ozarks in
Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
. * OQ-3 on display at the
Pima Air & Space Museum The Pima Air & Space Museum is an aerospace museum in Tucson, Arizona, US. It features a display of nearly 400 aircraft spread out over on a campus occupying . It has also been the home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame since 1991. Overv ...
in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
. * OQ-3 on display at the
United States Army Aviation Museum The United States Army Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located on Fort Novosel near Daleville, Alabama. It has the largest collection of helicopters held by a museum in the world.Phillips 1992, p. 37.Purner 2004, p. 204. The museum feature ...
at
Fort Novosel Fort Rucker is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was formerly named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously name ...
near
Daleville, Alabama Daleville is a city in Dale County, Alabama, Dale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census the population was 5,295, up from 4,653 in 2000. It is part of the Dale County, Alabama, Ozark Micropolitan Statistic ...
. * OQ-14 in storage at the
National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...


Specifications (OQ-2)


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

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


External links


"The Radioplane Target Drone"
a complete history of Radioplane in the World War II era. {{DEFAULTSORT:OQ-2 1940s United States special-purpose aircraft Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Radioplane aircraft