For those that think ‘drones’ are a new thing…
United States Naval Photographic Center film #11473. Antiaircraft practice aboard ship. Footage of Radioplane OQ-2 target drone.
From 1945!
And in other news, the USAF is converting F-16s to QF-16 drones down at Eglin… They’ve finally run out of QF-4s to shoot at.
Yep, pretty neat stuff. I like living in the Panhandle. Drones aside, those F35’s are awesome as they roar overhead. The sound of freedom!
Related:
http://www.newsherald.com/military/tyndall-air-force-base/tyndall-gets-qf-16-for-aerial-target-practice-1.454933
http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123442257
oops!; http://news.usni.org/2014/06/23/breaking-fire-breaks-f-35-eglin-air-force-base-pilot-safe
Are we really shooting F-16s out of the sky for practice? Or only targeting.
If targeting, then why a drone?
1) Targeting only. Ordnance is too expensive.
2) Drones can pull programmed evasive maneuvers at the limits of the airframe without risking a second pilot. A pre-programmed sequence can be used to evaluate different pilots/systems to a common standard.
3) Drones are cool.
Yeah. But didn’t you notice how fashion comes around and reinvents itself every 40-50 year? LOL. Very cool post!
I wonder when we are going to have trap shooting with those little remote control helicopters?
Brian- Yeah, they ARE noisy aren’t they…
Ed- Sure are! 🙂
Fargo- Or every time a teen thinks they’ve done something ‘cool’…LOL
Ed- You can do that now with some RC airplanes… 🙂
Damn. QF-16? Last time I saw a drone fly at Egland, it was QF-106/102 ; couldn’t quite tell.
Granted I was in 8th grade but, still…
I did not know this. Thank-you
SPE- Yep… QF-16s…
Rick- You’re welcome!
Old drones: campwellfleet.com. I grew up a mile from the site. Lots of cool exploring for an 8 to 12 year old! We also had an old Liberty ship 1 mile off the beach that AF and Navy bombed and helped develop heat seeking missiles.
Glenn- I can imagine! That had to be fun!