The Globe KD5G is a
pulsejet
300px, Diagram of a pulsejet
A pulsejet engine (or pulse jet) is a type of jet engine in which combustion occurs in pulses. A pulsejet engine can be made with few or no moving parts, and is capable of running statically (i.e. it does not need ...
-powered American
target drone produced by
Globe Aircraft Corporation
The Globe Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer formed in 1940 in Fort Worth, Texas. It was declared bankrupt in 1947.
History
The Bennett Aircraft Corporation was originally formed on 5 April 1940 to develop aircraft using a ...
that began development in 1949. Due to changing requirements for drone performance, it was only operated 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 ...
for a short period.
Design and development
The XKD5G-1 was of conventional high-wing, twin-tail design, a Marquardt PJ46 pulsejet being mounted externally atop the fuselage, in the same style as the World War II German
V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control)
V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to:
In aircraft
* V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon
* V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...
;
it was one of the last aircraft produced for the U.S. military to be powered by a pulsejet.
The KD5G had a top speed of ; if it was not shot down during its mission, it could be recovered by
parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
to be flown again.
Operational history
Originating in 1949, the XKD5G-1 first flew in 1950,
and was tested at the
Naval Air Test Center
Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River.
It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air Sys ...
in
Point Mugu, California. By 1952, however, the speed requirements for target drones had increased to the point that the KD5G was considered too slow for operational service, while pulsejets also lost efficiency quickly at higher altitudes; as a result the XKD5G-1 project was cancelled.
Surviving aircraft
A surviving XKD5G-1 was donated to the
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...
by the U.S. Navy in 1966; it is displayed in the
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Specifications (KD5G-1)
See also
References
{{USN drones
1940s United States special-purpose aircraft
Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States
Pulsejet-powered aircraft
KD5G
High-wing aircraft
Single-engined jet aircraft
Twin-tail aircraft