A Brief History of Unmanned Aircraft
From bomb-bearing balloons to the Global Hawk.
- By Ed Darack
- AirSpaceMag.com, May 18, 2011
USAF Photo: MSgt Scott Reed
My first experience with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles was in the spring of 2005, when I visited the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California. I was researching an article on close air support, and got a firsthand look at the RQ-2 Pioneer operated by Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron-1.
Later that year, I had the opportunity to see a Predator in action when the base where I was staying, in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province, came under nighttime mortar attack. It was impressive: Operators on the other side of the world—at Nevada’s Creech Air Force Base—used the UAV’s cameras to zoom in on the attackers, then fire Hellfire missiles at their location. The mortar attacks abruptly ceased.
I became more familiar with UAVs during subsequent embeds in Afghanistan and Iraq, and on other research trips to Marine bases in the States. Although I never got more than a cursory look at how they were operated, the brief exposure sparked an interest to learn more. I had watched Marines using different types of UAVs, some of them small and relatively simple. And I wondered: Could someone without a formal background in aeronautical engineering—someone like me—actually build a UAV that could be used in the field?
I decided to give it a try. But before I could hit the drawing board, I’d have to research the world of UAVs, starting at the beginning. See the gallery above for a short history of unmanned flying vehicles, both military and civilian.
Photographer and writer Ed Darack plans to document—with photos and video—his attempt to design his own UAV. We’ll follow his progress at airspacemag.com as he advances from concept to working prototype.
Pictured: An MQ-1 Predator over a mountain range in Nevada.
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Comments (6)
I really liked the piece on "A Brief History of Unmanned Aircraft". I learned some things that I did not know.
Posted by Robert Bone on May 25,2011 | 01:37 PM
Really enjoyed this set... especially the Ronald Reagan and Marilyn Monroe connection with Radioplane. A very small world makes for great history telling. Enjoyed the story greatly.
Posted by Ray Krause on May 25,2011 | 08:09 PM
I expected to see the Ryan Model 154-AQM 91A "Compass Arrow" from 1968 in your history of Unmanned Aircraft.
It was a big step forward in this field.
Check "Fireflies and other UAV's" by William Wagner published in 1992.
Posted by Roy Benstead on May 26,2011 | 08:37 PM
In the article you start out by saying Naval Aviators learned in T-6'. Not so, they flew the SNJ. Pretty much the same a/c but a T-6 is a T-6 and an SNJ is still an SNJ.I served aboard NAAS Miramar in 1952 as plane captain for an SNJ and an SNB Miramar hadn't been designated NAS yet so we were basically the only a/c on base. It was a great time to be there, a time to learn and improve my skills as an Aviation Mech with a crew that cared about the a/c we sent out everday. Glenn Dunham, AD2
Posted by glenn dunham on June 10,2011 | 01:47 PM
following up on the article with Ronald Reagan and Marily Monroe with Radioplane. I too was surprised by the connection because after my first assignment at Miramar I was transferred to Hawaii's Barbers Point utility squadron and worked in a KD238 where we flew Radioplane KD-28 drones. We flew them off the North Shore of Oahu at Dillingham AFB and off an A/C carrier to service the guns on several DD's on a cruise to Japan. We flew both prop driven and pulse jet engines and I still have pictures of both kind if anybody woulc care to share. glennginny@hotmail.com
Posted by glenn dunham on June 10,2011 | 02:03 PM
"The Buzz Bombs proved devastating, killing more than 10,000 civilians and injuring nearly 28,000."
And the many inmates at the Dora-Nordhausen concentration camp in the Harz mountains Germany, where these weapons where build under greawsom conditions..
I live under one of the old V-1 'flight-lines' from Rotterdam-Pernis to Antwerp. I remember the removals of a number of malfunctioned and crashed V-1's in my neighborhood at Spijkenisse, the Netherlands.
Posted by Arjan Wolters on July 20,2011 | 03:47 PM