| Culver | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
PQ-14 #
|
||||||||||||||||||||
%20(8X4).JPG) |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Photo:
Robert Deering 10/18/2012 National Museum of the USAF Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO) Dayton, Ohio |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
In
August 1940 the U.S. Army Air Corps joined in the
development of radio-controlled target aircraft for
training anti-aircraft artillery gunners. These unmanned
targets would be controlled by radio signals from the
ground or a "mother" aircraft, but would have provisions
for carrying a pilot for ferry flights or check flights.
The Culver Aircraft Corp. submitted the only design that
was accepted for production and subsequently became a
major producer of radio-controlled aerial target
aircraft for the Army and Navy during World War II.
Culver built three basic models in quantity for the Army (with corresponding models for the Navy). The PQ-8, powered by a 90-hp engine, was based on the civilian Culver Model LFA Cadet sport airplane and was succeeded by the faster PQ-8A. The success of the PQ-8 series led to the development of the larger and faster PQ-14 with a retractable landing gear and fuselage, wings and tail components made of wood with stressed plywood skin. During WWII, the USAAF procured 2,043 PQ-14s, 1,198 of which went to the Navy. The PQ-14B on display at the museum was donated in 1983 by Mr. Robert E. Parcell of Fort Worth, Texas. It is painted and marked in a typical WWII scheme, although some PQ-14s remained in service for several years after the war. |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
