The Kawasaki KAQ-1 is a small, radio controlled target drone aircraft. A 72 hp engine allowed the KAQ-1 to reach speeds up to 220 mi/h and fly for over 250 miles (402.3 km).

Purpose

The main purpose of the KAQ-1 drone was to train fighter pilots in the use of air-to-air missiles and to train anti-aircraft gunners on the ground. The KAQ-1 was launched from a ramp to
known altitudes and if destroyed, a parachute

Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

 rigged to the engine mounts would allow the engine to be recovered and reused. The drone was used in the 1950s by the armed forces of both the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

General characteristics

• Crew: None
• Length: 12 ft (3.66 m)
• Wing Span
  Wingspan
  The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
  
  : 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
• Height: 2 in 7 in (0.7874 m)
• Maximum Takeoff Weight: 342 lb (155 kg)
• Power Plant: 1x 72 hp McCullough 4318A engine

Performance

• Maximum Speed: 220 mph (350 km/h)
• Service Ceiling
  Ceiling (aeronautics)
  With respect to aircraft, a ceiling is the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions.The word ceiling can also refer to the height of the lowest obscuring cloud layer above the ground.-Service ceiling:...
  
  : N/A
• Range: 274 mi (441 km)

External links

• Castle Air Museum website