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Well, it's very difficult to deny, but drones have become such a big part of our daily lives that we tend to take them for granted. The drone pretty much replaced the helicopter as the main means to do aerial shots for film duties, since it's much cheaper to operate. Drones are also used to deliver packages and of course are used as bombers in the most recent conflicts around the world. After all, why should you risk the lives of a crew when you can send out a drone to do your dirty work for you?
But every story needs to start somewhere, and I figured it to be fun to talk about the history of the drone. And that said history starts with THIS man, Geoffrey De Havilland.
Now there are aviation pioneers and then there's THIS guy, there's very little in the world of aviation's golden era where this man didn't have something to do with. From providing the DH-4 designs to the US Army so they could enter the first world war with an actual sizable air force, to producing the very first jet powered airliner. This man was there, getting work done and accumulating a résumé that would never be surpassed.
But what many don't know about De Havilland was that he also was a very enthusiastic entomologist, with a keen eye for flying insects. It was reflected in the names for his aircraft.
The DH-90 Dragonfly
The DH-98 Mosquito
The DH-103 Hornet
And it was one of those insect named planes that became the very first drone.
The DH-89 Tiger Moth was one of the most widely used planes of De Havilland in the interwar period and during the second world war. With many examples still airworthy today. A primary trainer, it earned a reputation for being stable, easy to fly and being well liked by its pilots.
De Havilland himself got word from the admiralty that there was a need for a dedicated target aircraft, so their anti-aircraft gunners could hone their craft before they would be sent into battle. Realizing that both the Royal Air Force and the Naval air force would be going “Have you gone bleeding bonkers?!” when asked about endangering a pilot's life for that goal, the R&D of his company came up with THIS.
This is the DH-89B Queen Bee, the first radio-controlled full sized plane ever.
And here's one being operated from the ground.
It was a master stroke and a revolution, now there was a plane available which sole purpose was to be shot from the sky. The US Navy, seeing the merits of that idea, bought the rights for the technology and quickly put it into production. And in tribute to Geoffrey De Havilland's entomology was named “the Drone”
So what exactly is a Drone?
Well a drone is a male bee, whose only purpose in life is to fly from one hive to another, mate with the queen and die, thus avoiding inbreeding. It flies only once during its lifetime, a very fitting name.
But while the drone has evolved over the years into a platform for both commercial and combat duties, it still is used for its original purpose, to be shot from the sky as target practice.
QF-4 Phantom drones awaiting their fate.
A Phantom drone being shot out of the sky by a missile fire from an F-14 in the early eighties.
