Drones....

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Shannow

Shannow

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regarding this quote from the SR-71 thread...
Originally Posted by DeepFriar
There were drones back then too and not just the D-21. So many people think drones are something new.


Remember that with the atomic testing they had radio controlled B17 bombers filming the events...Operation Crossroads...a fact that I've always found utterly amazing.

Yes, remote controlled computer controlled these days I can imagine, but remote controlling a 4 engined gas powered bomber rattles my brain....
 
I have a DJI Phantom 4 and it shocks me when I take it to work and fly at lunchtime how many people are terrified of the drone. 80% of people flee and scream in terror more than if I had a shotgun in hand. The other 20% are in awe and absolutely love it.
 
Originally Posted by Shannow
regarding this quote from the SR-71 thread...
Originally Posted by DeepFriar
There were drones back then too and not just the D-21. So many people think drones are something new.


Remember that with the atomic testing they had radio controlled B17 bombers filming the events...Operation Crossroads...a fact that I've always found utterly amazing.

Yes, remote controlled computer controlled these days I can imagine, but remote controlling a 4 engined gas powered bomber rattles my brain....





That's incredible. I had no idea this existed that far back.
 
One of the Kennedy brothers , in WWII , was killed by a bomber filled with explosives . They were going to fly it into a submarine pen or something ?
 
That was special version of the B17 if I remember correctly. Loaded up with Torpex or Amatol and able to continue to it's destination after the crew bailed or something like that.
 
Originally Posted by DeepFriar
... So many people think drones are something new ...


Ha.
grin2.gif


For instance the AQM-34 drones "only" flew about 3500 combat missions in Vietnam.




Tom Cat was the survivability champion, it managed to return from many hairy flights over the North until it was finally shot down over Hanoi on its 68th mission.

[Linked Image]
 
Good one Berto! I have a picture around here somewhere of one of those missions with the drone taking pictures while flying *under* the powerlines. They were all recovered (if they were lucky) in midair by helicopter. The Buffalo Hunter program was initially called "Bumpy Action" until one day President Johnson said the code name in a press conference. He gave up the existence of the SR-71that way too.
 
^ Yeah the AQM-34L & M low level recon versions sometimes came back trailing telephone & power wires, pieces of vietnamese jungle, and riddled by flak.

Programmer error, when they input a height of 20 feet instead of 200 feet, resulted in some of the most interesting imagery returned. One of these 20 feet flights was buzzing over Kep (the MiG's nest) when a MiG-17 on landing pattern came head on. The MiG grew larger and larger until it filled all the screen, but miraculously there was no mid-air.

On February 13, 1966 one ELINT Ryan drone sacrificed itself for the cause so that an accompanying RB-47H could get the signals data from the dreaded SAM-2 missile for the first time. This was one of the legendary feats in electronic warfare.

And the funny thing is, the drones even managed to "kill" MiGs
grin2.gif
. The North Vietnamese were so eager to shoot down those pesky drones that more than once the MiGs ran out of fuel while on pursuit and the pilots had to eject.

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by DeepFriar
So many people think drones are something new.


True... In 1918 Charles Kettering designed the Kettering Bug which was
an experimental, unmanned aerial torpedo, powered by a V4 2 stroke
engine, its the clear forerunner of present-day cruise missiles. It
was capable of striking ground targets up to 75 miles from its
launch point, while traveling at speeds of 50 miles per hour.

USAF museum Wright Pat
[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]
 
Last edited:
Larry

I've seen (somewhere) one film of the Bug being launched. Any idea how they *controlled* the course, speed, impact area? Certain amount of fuel, timer of some sort or....? As you say, obviously the forerunner of things like the V1 buzz bomb and all the cruise missiles that followed.

Edit: Actually there is a very complete explanation on Wiki. *Much* more advanced technologically than I would have thought. Some sort of pneumatic control system with autopilot by Sperry. Amazing.
 
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