It all started with a road trip M
y wife, Mary and I were driving in our station wagon one weekend in the 1960s from Annandale, VA, where we had
lived, to Front Royal, VA to visit her parents. Just outside of Front Royal Mary said, “Honey, wait! There is an airplane in the yard back there. It is too small to be a real airplane and too big to be a model.” We went back. The airplane was an OQ-2A target drone from WWII. It was fully assembled and kids were playing on it. As I walked into the yard a fellow came bounding out of the house and said “Yes, it is mine. Make me an offer.” We chatted a while and I ended up giving him $80 for the drone, which he had won in a poker game. This OQ-2A had been manufactured by the Frankfurt Aircraft
Co. It was powered by a six horsepower Herkimer manufactured Richter motor that drove a contrarotating propeller system through a large gearbox. The wings were strut braced, and either end of ei- ther wing could be attached to the fuselage. The fin and stabilizers were interchangeable. There was a large hatch for a parachute on top of the triangu-
lar fuselage but the chute was missing. The landing gear was bungee suspended for vertical landings under the parachute. The drone was radio controlled. All of the R/C equipment was still in it but the batteries were gone. “Wimpy” was stenciled on each side of the fin. I ran the motor several times. Friend, Joel Fillebrown, and I rigged
up a 100-foot nylon rope with lamp cord to actuate the elevator ser- vo and motor shutoff. We flew the drone tethered (control line). It took two of us to hold the 13-foot, 100-pound monster, but it flew well. The drone was hung in Arlington Hobby Crafters, Arlington, VA for many years, then hung in our barn for many more years. One year I had a tax problem. The accountant asked if we had anything to donate. The drone came to mind. I had the OQ-2A evaluated by the president of the Remote Piloted Vehicle Associ- ation. Saying that he only knew of six other similar drones in ex- istence, he valued it a $24,000.00. Holy moley! The donation helped considerably on our taxes. Wimpy is now in the Fort Sill, Oklahoma Artillery Museum.
OQ-2A target drone once owned by John Hunton, (above left) is now in the Fort Sill Artillery Museum. A restored OQ-2A (above right) hangs in AMA’s
Development of the OQ-2A English born Reginald Denny was an ex-
cellent actor who starred in many movies of the 1920s and 30s. Mr. Denny was a full scale pilot, having earned his wings in the RAF before coming to America to further his acting career. He was also a modeler. He de- signed and sold a model kit named the Den- nyplane. A friend, Walter Righter, devel- oped a motor that Mr. Denny marketed as the “Dennymite”. Over 10,000 of the Denny kits and motors were sold.
excellent Model Aviation Museum. Note that the large hatch for the parachute is open on this display.
Before WWI Mr. Denny had been hit by
flak while towing a target for ground based antiaircraft units to practice on. This experi- ence probably helped to lead him to build a very large version of the Dennyplane, radio controlled, to demonstrate it for the US Army as a better target for air artillery to practice shooting at than a towed target. The Army agreed and funded Mr. Denny to de- velop and build a drone that became the OQ- 2A for the Army and the TDD (Teledyne Denny Drone) for the Navy.
Production of the OQ-2A was given over to
larger companies to produce and eventually 4,000 OQ-2As were built and 10,000 more OQ-3s were built, which were simplified ver- sions of the OQ-2A. The intended use of the OQ series was
mainly for gunnery practice of coastal air ar- tillery units. Fortunately the US mainland never got invaded by air, so the OQ’s have languished in relative obscurity. Today there are only six OQ’s remaining, mostly in museums, including one in the Model Avia-
Denny’s friend, Walter Righter, designed and built a special engine (above left) for Denny’s drones. The engine had contrarotating propellers to reduce torque to make the airplane easier to fly. The two-cylinder, two-cycle Righter drone engine developed 6 horsepower. It was produced by Herkimer Tool Works, builders of the OK Cub model engines. An assembly line of drones (above center). OQs were built by several manufacturers, Radioplane, Globe,
FLYING MODELS
and Frankfort. According to Mr. Denny’s son, Reginald Denny Jr., about 4000 OQ-2As were built and 10,000 OQ-3s. The OQ-3s had one direct drive propeller and no landing gear. Occasionally an air artilleryman would score a direct hit (above right), but apparently these drones were difficult to hit and they could be recovered by parachute for reuse. John would like to hear from anyone who actually used these drones in training.
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