The Culver XPQ-15, also known as the XTD3C-1, was an American
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 operationa ...
developed by the
Culver Aircraft Company
The Culver Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s.
History
The Dart Manufacturing Corporation was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by Monocoupe dealer Knight K. Culver and Al Mooney to purchase t ...
late in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Design and development
The XPQ-15 was a low-wing monoplane of conventional design. It was powered by a
Franklin O-405
The Franklin O-405 (company designation 6AC-403) was an American air-cooled aircraft engine of the 1940s. The engine was of Flat-six engine, six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed layout and Engine displacement, displaced . The power output was betwe ...
opposed piston engine
An opposed-piston engine is a piston engine in which each cylinder has a piston at both ends, and no cylinder head. Petrol and diesel opposed-piston engines have been used mostly in large-scale applications such as ships, military tanks, and f ...
.
[Parsch 2009] Design work began in 1943.
Operational history
Four examples of the XPQ-15 were built for evaluation by the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
in 1945; two additional aircraft were tested by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
as the XTD3C-1. No production contract was placed.
Variants
;XPQ-15
:USAAF variant; four produced.
;XTD3C-1
:USN variant; two produced, BuNos 29665-29666.
[Grossnick and Armstrong 1997, p.540.]
Specifications (XPQ-15)
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
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External links
Photo of XPQ-15 model in ''Popular Science''
{{USN target drones
PQ-15
1940s United States special-purpose aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Target drones of the United States
Aircraft first flown in 1945