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The Radioplane Company was an American aviation company that produced
drone aircraft An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
primarily for use as gunnery targets. During
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 ...
, they produced over 9,400 of their Radioplane OQ-3 model, a propeller-powered monoplane, making it the most-used target aircraft in the US. In the post-World War II era they introduced their
Radioplane BTT The Radioplane BTT, known as RP-71 by the company, as WS-426/2 by the United States Navy, and as WS-462/2 by the US Air Force, is a family of target drones produced by the Radioplane Company (later a division of Northrop). History In the post ...
series, which was produced for years and eventually reached almost 60,000 examples. They also produced several
radio control Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely control a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a small ...
and self-guided missiles, the largest being the
GAM-67 Crossbow The GAM-67 Crossbow was a turbojet-powered anti-radar missile built by Northrop's Ventura Division, the successor to the Radioplane Company who developed the Crossbow's predecessor, the Q-1 target drone. Development In the late 1940s, the Rad ...
, which didn't enter service. The company was purchased by
Northrop Corporation Northrop Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its 1994 merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, most successfully the B-2 Spiri ...
in 1952, and moved to one of Northrop's factories in 1962. One of the last projects carried out at the original Radioplane factory in
Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...
, was the construction of the
Gemini Paraglider Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Norther ...
.


History


Reginald Denny Hobby Shops

Reginald Denny served with the
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and after the war emigrated to the United States to seek his fortunes in Hollywood as an actor. He was successful as a supporting actor in dozens of films and made a good living. Like many actors of the era, he took up flying for sport in the 1920s. But he then lost almost all of his money speculating in oil and mining stocks. Between films, Denny overheard a racket next door and went to investigate. He found the neighbor's son attempting to start one of the earliest radio-control model airplanes. Denny attempted to help, but they instead ended up destroying the model. While attempting to get it fixed, Denny became acquainted with the newly forming model industry, one of whom convinced him to take it up as a hobby. In 1934 he started a small hobby shop with a partner on
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
, but after two years it went out of business.


Reginald Denny Industries

Denny approached (or was approached by) Nelson Paul Whittier, grandson of California
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
pioneer,
John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...
. The two formed Reginald Denny Industries in 1935 to develop a new radio controlled model, and were joined by electronics engineer Kenneth Case. For the next three years they attempted to produce a design known as the Radioplane One, or RP-1, essentially a greatly enlarged model airplane, complete with a fuselage area that included the step where a windscreen was in a real aircraft. The control system was based on a telephone dial: dial 4 for elevator down, and then 2 to stop the motion. Due to the latencies in the system, the aircraft were found to be almost uncontrollable. In 1936 Denny met General W.S. Thiele at
Fort MacArthur Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California (now the port community of Los Angeles). A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative annex ...
in Los Angeles, who complained that it cost $300 to have an aircraft tow a target for gunnery practice. He also noted that the target flew in a straight line, which made it unrealistic. Denny suggested that a radio controlled model might be a more cost-effective solution. In an effort to interest the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in the design, they had demonstrated the RP-1 at Dale Dry Lake on 21 February 1938, but the radio failed and it crashed. In spite of the crash, the Army agreed to purchase three models for $11,000 if they met certain performance requirements. In 1938 they purchased a new aircraft design by Fred Hardy and its associated engine from Walter Righter, who had supplied the engines for their previous designs. They began marketing them as the "Dennyplane" with the "Dennymite" engine. After continued development, they demonstrated the design to the Army in March 1939 as the RP-2, and this was far more successful. In November they demonstrated the RP-3, which used welded steel tubing in place of glue-and-screwed
balsa wood ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...
for the framework, and added the new feature of a
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 ...
that could be activated when the flight was completed, making landings a simple push-button task. Continued testing was carried out at
March Field March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Ma ...
, east of
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. These early tests were not very successful, but a series of improvements were quickly worked into the design. At this point the Whittier estate withdrew further funding.


Radioplane

Denny and Whittier sought bankers to provide
bridge financing A bridge loan is a type of short-term loan, typically taken out for a period of 2 weeks to 3 years pending the arrangement of larger or longer-term financing. It is usually called a bridging loan in the United Kingdom, also known as a "caveat loan, ...
, and one of these put them in touch with Whitney Collins, a vice-president at
Menasco Motors Company The Menasco Motors Company was an American aircraft engine and component manufacturer. History The company was organized by Albert S. Menasco in 1926 to convert World War I surplus Salmson 9 (water-cooled engine), Salmson Z-9 water-cooled nine ...
and budding entrepreneur. Collins and Denny estimated it would take somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000 to bring the RP-3 up to the performance demanded by the original $11,000 contract, but Collins was willing to take a chance that this would lead to future business. Collins and his partner Harold Powell split the drone program off from Reginald Denny Hobby Shops and formed Radioplane with Denny and Whittier. Whittier was later bought out. Another year of development was required before the new RP-4 design was complete, having been extensively re-designed by
aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
Ferris Smith. Testing was accomplished by mounting the models to a framework on the front of a
Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...
Twelve Senior and driving across
Muroc Dry Lake Rogers Dry Lake is an endorheic desert salt pan in the Mojave Desert of Kern County, California. The lake derives its name from the Anglicization from the Spanish name, Rodriguez Dry Lake. It is the central part of Edwards Air Force Base as its ...
at speeds up to . Along with significant changes to the aerodynamics, the new design featured side-by-side contra-rotating propellers to counteract engine torque from its Sidewinder engine, and tricycle landing gear. The RP-4 also used a new
joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...
-based control system that operators found easier to use. Three examples were delivered to the Army, who placed an order for an additional 53 units. The production models were further modified, known to Radioplane as the RP-5, and to the Army as the Radioplane OQ-2. Delivery of these began in June 1941.


Wartime work

Orders began to pour in, and the company expanded into the former
Timm Aircraft The O.W. Timm Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by Otto William Timm, based in Los Angeles, California. History Between 1911 and 1922 O.W. Timm built several aircraft with varying success before he founded, in 1 ...
factories on the northeast corner of the
Van Nuys Airport : ''For the United States Air Force use of the airport (1942–1990), see Van Nuys Air National Guard Base'' Van Nuys Airport is a public airport in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. The airport is operated by Los Angeles Wo ...
in 1942, when Timm moved to the western side. May 1942 brought the updated RP-5A, differing primarily in the Righter O-15-1 engine driving in-line propellers instead of side by side, along with tail-dragger landing gear. The Army purchased this as the OQ-2A, which led to the
US 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 of ...
buying a slightly modified version as the TDD-1, for ''Target Drone, Denny, 1''. Navy models lacked the landing gear, which was useless on water. The OQ-2B had a lightened structure by drilling holes in the wing ribs. By 1943 there was a demand for a faster version, which led to the December introduction of the OQ-3, or TDD-2. This was essentially a strengthened version of the OQ-2 with a larger O-15-3 engine that allowed it to reach . It also used a single propeller in place of the OQ-2's counter-rotating variety, as the torque effects were no longer a concern for the operators. The OQ-3/TDD-2 was the most-produced Radioplane drone of the war era, with over 9,400 produced.Andreas Parsch
"Radioplane OQ-14/TDD"
20 March 2003
It was on the RP-5 assembly line in 1945 that Army photographer
David Conover David Conover (June 26, 1919 – December 21, 1983) was an author and documentary photographer who is credited with discovering Marilyn Monroe while taking photos for '' Yank'' magazine. While attached to the U.S. Army Air Forces' First Motio ...
saw a young woman assembler named Norma Jeane Dougherty, whom he thought had potential as a model. She was photographed working on the OQ-3, which led to a screen test for Norma Jeane, who soon changed her name to
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
. In November 1943 the company produced the OQ-7, essentially an OQ-3 with some cleanups and a new mid-mounted, slightly swept wing. This reached but was not taken into production. A totally new design was introduced in April 1944, the RP-8. This was powered by a new O-45-1, allowing it to reach . This was taken into service as the OQ-14 and TDD-3, and a larger O-45-35 engine was used by the Navy's TDD-4. The RP-10 tested a new low-mounted wing on an otherwise unmodified OQ-7. A new four-cylinder Righter O-45 powered the RP-14 which reached . A O-60 four-cylinder engine from
McCulloch Motors Corporation McCulloch Motors Corporation is an American manufacturer of chainsaws and other outdoor power tools. The company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1943 by Robert Paxton McCulloch as a manufacturer of small two-stroke gasoline engines and ...
provided speeds of on two experimental RP-15's (OQ-6A) in November 1944. Combining this engine with a totally new metal-skinned fuselage and wings produced the RP-19, which reached . About 5,200 OQ-14/TDD-3's were produced. Adding the more powerful O-45-35 engine produced the OQ-17/TDD-4, but only small numbers were produced. By the end of the war the company's factory floor had expanded from 979 square feet in 1940 to 69,500 spread over five buildings, and was delivering 50 drones a day. The company, along with production partner Frankfort, ultimately produced nearly fifteen thousand drones during the
Second World War 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 ...
. Righter's engine plant remained in Burbank, and was eventually purchased by Radioplane in May 1945.


Post-war, Northrop purchase

Shortly after the end of the war the company the company produced a report sponsored by the
Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...
with proposals for small aircraft capable of carrying a single marine over irradiated territory in an amphibious assault. As the post-war wind-down began to take effect, Denny eventually sold his 25% stake in the company to Collins in 1948. Late in the war the company began development of an entirely new drone design known as the Basic Training Target, or BTT. Unlike the previous models which retained some semblance of their original model-airplane origins, the BTT series were metal skinned and much more streamlined. The first examples mounted a McCullough O-100-1 engine and was able to reach and was designed so that at range it appeared and flew like a jet fighter flying at at range. It entered service in 1950 with some examples used as late as the 1980s."Northrop KD2R5 'Shelduck' Basic Training Target Drone"
Western Museum of Flight
A further improvement was the OQ-19/KD2R-5, with a McCullough that raised speed to . These included wing-tip mounts for teardrop-shaped
radar reflector A corner reflector is a retroreflector consisting of three mutually perpendicular, intersecting flat surfaces, which reflects waves directly towards the source, but translated. The three intersecting surfaces often have square shapes. Radar co ...
s that allowed them to be used with various radar-guided guns and missiles. These entered service as the MQM-36 Shelduck, and ultimately became the company's biggest success, with just 60,000 produced in a production run that lasted into the 1980s. A modified version of the Shelduck, the RP-71 Falconer (MQM-57), added an autopilot and camera mounts for battlefield reconnaissance duties. For even higher speeds, the company began experimenting with
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 ...
systems immediately after the war, building two experimental designs, the RP-21 and RP-26. In response to a call for high-speed target drones from the newly formed
US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
, in 1950 the company introduced the
Radioplane Q-1 The Radioplane Q-1 was an American target drone, developed in the early 1950s for the United States Air Force by the Radioplane Company. Originally powered by a pulsejet engine, then later developed as an improved turbojet-powered aircraft, the Q ...
, powered by a small
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 ...
. An attempt to build a version with the Continental YJ69 turbojet failed to find orders, and the role was taken over by the
Ryan Firebee The Ryan Firebee is a series of target drones developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company beginning in 1951. It was one of the first jet-propelled drones, and remains one of the most widely used target drones ever built. Development Ryan Fireb ...
Q-2. Only a few dozen Q-1's were produced in total. The jet-powered Q-1 was then used in the development of the
GAM-67 Crossbow The GAM-67 Crossbow was a turbojet-powered anti-radar missile built by Northrop's Ventura Division, the successor to the Radioplane Company who developed the Crossbow's predecessor, the Q-1 target drone. Development In the late 1940s, the Rad ...
, an experimental long-range
anti-radiation missile An anti-radiation missile (ARM) is a missile designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically, these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communications can also be t ...
. In 1953 they began development of the RP-61, a supersonic jet-powered drone that was powered by a XJ81 engine and able to reach Mach 1.55. Several improved models followed, but only 25 were produced. The company was purchased by Northrop in 1952, becoming the Radioplane Division of Northrop. The factory later moved to a Northrop plant at
Newbury Park, CA Newbury Park is a populated place and townReal Estate Communications, Inc. (1984). ''California Real Estate Directory''. Page 201. in Ventura County, California, United States. Most of it lies within the western Thousand Oaks city limits, whil ...
, and the name was changed to the Ventura Division, Northrop Corporation.Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II,'' pp. 129–30, Cypress, CA, 2013.


Notes


References

Citations Bibliography *Axe, David. (2021) ''Drone War Vietnam.'' Pen & Sword, Military, Great Britain. ISBN 978 1 52677 026 4 * Edward Churchill
"Aerial Robots"
''Flying Magazine'', March 1946 * Jim Dunkin
"Pictures, Planes and Persistence"
''Mechanix illustrated'', April 1940 * Douglas Ingells
"Uncle Sam Buys a Model Plane"
''Model Airplane News'', September 1940 * ''Radioplane''

1945


External links



an extensive history on Radioplane and the people who made the company. {{Radioplane aircraft Van Nuys, Los Angeles Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States