The Radioplane OQ-17 was a
target drone produced by the
Radioplane Company
The Radioplane Company was an American aviation company that produced drone aircraft primarily for use as gunnery targets. During World War II, they produced over 9,400 of their Radioplane OQ-3 model, a propeller-powered monoplane, making it the ...
for the
United States Army Air Forces and, as the TD4D/KDR Quail, the
United States Navy. Suffering from an unreliable engine, the OQ-17 production run was cut short in favor of the
OQ-19.
Design and development
As the end of
World War II approached, the U.S. Army Air Forces issued a requirement for a new target drone to replace the
Radioplane OQ-2
The OQ-2 Radioplane was the first mass-produced UAV or drone in the United States, manufactured by the Radioplane Company. A follow-on version, the OQ-3, became the most widely used target drone in US service, with over 9,400 being built during ...
family of drones, with higher performance to better simulate the improved capabilities of combat aircraft.
[Parsch 2003] The RP-18, designed by Radioplane's
Reginald Denny in response,
[Newcome 2004, p.58.] was of all-metal construction, with a high-mounted wing and conventional
empennage. Power was supplied by a
Righter O-45
The Righter/Kiekhaefer O-45 was an air-cooled, two-stroke aircraft engine of flat-twin configuration, used extensively for powering target drones in the late 1940s. four-cylinder horizontially-opposed engine, and launch was via
catapult
A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored p ...
.
Control was maintained through conventional
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 ...
, while if the drone was not shot down by the gunners using it for training, it could be recovered via an onboard
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 ...
.
[''Astro-Jet'' #18, p.12.] It was claimed that the OQ-17 could perform any maneuver that an ordinary
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
could.
Operational history
Evaluation of the RP-18 began in March 1945; following trials, the U.S. Army Air Forces ordered the drone into production in February 1946, designating it OQ-17. The U.S. Navy also ordered the drone; it had been evaluated as the XTD4D-1, but before entering service the production TD4D-1 was given the new designation of KDR-1 Quail.
Production of the OQ-17 and KDR was terminated after 430 aircraft had been completed, as persistent reliability issues with the O-45 engine could not be overcome; the
Radioplane OQ-19
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 United States Air Force, US Air Force, is a family of target drones produced by the Radioplane Company (later a division of Northro ...
was ordered as a replacement.
Variants and operators
* RP-18 - Original prototype version.
* XOQ-17 - U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) designation for testbed RP-18s.
* OQ-17 - USAAF; production version of XOQ-17.
* XTD4D-1 - U.S. Navy (USN) designation for testbed RP-18s.
* TD4D-1 - USN; original designation for production version of XTD4D-1
* KDR-1 - USN; definitive designation for production version of XTD4D-1.
* KDR-2 - USN; KDR-1 with structural improvements.
Specifications
See also
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
*
*
*
{{USN drones
OQ-017
1940s United States special-purpose aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Target drones