The Radioplane Q-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 in the early 1950s for the

United States 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 ...

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 ...

. Originally powered by 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 ...

engine, then later developed as an improved

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

-powered aircraft, the Q-1 failed to win the favor of the USAF. However, the aircraft provided the basis 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 ...

anti-radar 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 ...

Design and development

Shortly after its formation in 1948, the United States Air Force issued a specification calling for a new type of high-speed target drone. Required to be jet-powered to provide the most realistic training, the contract for the development of the drone was given to the Radioplane Company, later a division of Northrop. Powered by a single Giannini PJ39 pulsejet engine, the drone, given the designation RP-26 by the company and XQ-1 by the USAF, was a high-wing,

rocket sled launch A rocket sled launch, also known as ground-based launch assist, catapult launch assist, and sky-ramp launch, is a proposed method for launching space vehicles. With this concept the launch vehicle is supported by an eastward pointing rail or ma ...

ed aircraft. Originally fitted with a large single

vertical stabiliser A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...

, the design was modified to a

twin tail A twin tail is a specific type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers—often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be—are mounted at the outside of the aircra ...

configuration to provide additional clearance of its carrier aircraft. Recovery, following the conclusion of the drone's flight, was by parachute.

Operational history

The first flight of the XQ-1 prototype took place in 1950; 28 aircraft of the type were built. Although the aircraft proved to be mostly satisfactory, the thirsty nature of the pulsejet engine limited the drone's endurance to a mere 60 minutes.Yenne 2004, p.21. In an attempt to increase the potential flight time of the aircraft, one XQ-1 was re-engined with a Continental YJ69 turbojet replacing the pulsejet, becoming the XQ-1A; however it was determined that further improvements were needed, and so a major redesign of the type was undertaken. Known by the company as RP-50 and designated by the USAF as YQ-1B, the revised drone flew for the first time during 1953, being evaluated by the Air Force later that year. Using the YJ69 engine, the air intake for the jet was relocated to the nose of the aircraft, while the

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...

overall was modified to increase the streamlining of the craft. The rocket-sled launch was abandoned in favor of air launching, with the Douglas DB-26 being the most common carrier aircraft. Six YQ-1Bs were built for evaluation; they proved trouble-free, no production order for the type was undertaken, the competing Ryan Q-2 drone having been selected for operational service instead; as a result, the Q-1 program was terminated. However, the YQ-1B airframe was used by Radioplane as the start of development of a new

, which would be tested by the U.S. Air Force as the

.Newcomb 2004, p.72.

Variants

;XQ-1: Initial pulsejet-powered prototype with single tail; later refitted with twin tails. 28 built. ;XQ-1A: Turbojet-powered version. One modified from XQ-1. ;YQ-1B: Definitive turbojet-powered version, six built. ;XQ-3: Variant planned to be constructed of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

, none built.

Specifications (YQ-1B)

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * {{US unmanned aircraft Q-1 1950s United States special-purpose aircraft Target drones of the United States Single-engined jet aircraft Pulsejet-powered aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1950

Design and development

Operational history

Variants

Specifications (YQ-1B)

See also

References