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OQ-2 Radioplane

 
OQ 2 Radioplane

 
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OQ-2 Radioplane
 
 
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The OQ-2 Radioplane was the first mass-produced UAV
Unmanned aerial vehicle

File:MQ-9 Reaper in flight .jpgAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs come in two varieties: some are controlled from a remote location, and others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems....
 or drone in the United States.

Reginald Denny The first large-scale production, purpose-built drone was the product of Reginald Denny
Reginald Denny (actor)

Reginald Denny was an England stage , film, and television actor.Born Reginald Leigh Dugmore in Richmond, London, Surrey, England, he began his film career in 1915 in film and made films both in the United States and England until the 1960s....
. He served with the British Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery cooperation and photographic reconnaissance....
 during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, and after the war emigrated to the United States to seek his fortunes in Hollywood as an actor. Denny had made a name for himself as an actor, and between acting jobs, he pursued his interest in radio control
Radio control

Radio control is the use of radio signals to remote control a device. The term is used frequently to refer to the control of Radio-controlled model from a hand-held radio transmitter....
 model aircraft in the 1930s.






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The OQ-2 Radioplane was the first mass-produced UAV
Unmanned aerial vehicle

File:MQ-9 Reaper in flight .jpgAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs come in two varieties: some are controlled from a remote location, and others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems....
 or drone in the United States.

Development


Reginald Denny

The first large-scale production, purpose-built drone was the product of Reginald Denny
Reginald Denny (actor)

Reginald Denny was an England stage , film, and television actor.Born Reginald Leigh Dugmore in Richmond, London, Surrey, England, he began his film career in 1915 in film and made films both in the United States and England until the 1960s....
. He served with the British Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery cooperation and photographic reconnaissance....
 during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, and after the war emigrated to the United States to seek his fortunes in Hollywood as an actor. Denny had made a name for himself as an actor, and between acting jobs, he pursued his interest in radio control
Radio control

Radio control is the use of radio signals to remote control a device. The term is used frequently to refer to the control of Radio-controlled model from a hand-held radio transmitter....
 model aircraft in the 1930s. He and his business partners formed "Reginald Denny Industries" and opened a model plane shop in 1934 on Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Boulevard is a boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, beginning at Sunset Boulevard in the east and running northwest to Vermont Avenue, where it straightens out and runs due west to Laurel Canyon Boulevard....
 known as "Reginald Denny Hobby Shops".

Early Radioplane development

The shop evolved into the "Radioplane Company". Denny believed that low-cost RC aircraft would be very useful for training anti-aircraft gunners, and in 1935 he demonstrated a prototype target drone, the RP-1, to the US Army. Denny then bought a design from Walter Righter in 1938 and began marketing it to hobbyists as the Dennymite, and demonstrated it to the Army as the RP-2, and after modifications as the RP-3 and RP-4 in 1939.

Army purchase

In 1940, the Army placed an order for 53 RP-4s, designating them the OQ-1, the "OQ" meaning a "subscale target". This small order led to a much bigger 1941 order from the US Army for the company's similar RP-5, which became the US Army OQ-2. The US Navy also bought the drone, designating it TDD-1 or "Target Drone Denny 1". Thousands were built, manufactured in a plant at the Van Nuys Airport in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
 metropolitan area. It was at this factory that in 1944 Army photographer David Conover saw a young lady named Norma Jeane, and thought she had potential as a model. This "discovery" led to fame for Jeane, who soon changed her name to Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model, and a sex symbol.After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946....
.

Description and variants

The OQ-2 was 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. Launch was from a convention runway, and recovery was either by returning to the runway or by parachute.

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 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".

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

Specifications (OQ-2)