Fleetwings BQ-2
{{Short description|1940s American unmanned aerial vehicle}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
|name = XBQ-2 |image = Fleetwings XBQ-2A.jpg |size = 300px |alt = |caption = |long caption = }}{{Infobox aircraft type |type = Flying bomb |national origin = United States |manufacturer = Fleetwings |designer = |design group = |first flight = 1943 |introduced = |introdction = |retired = |status = |primary user = United States Army Air Forces |more users = |produced = |number built = 1 |program cost = |unit cost = |developed from = |variants with their own articles = Fleetwings BQ-1 |developed into = }} |
The Fleetwings BQ-2 was an early expendable unmanned aerial vehicle — referred to at the time as an "assault drone" — developed by Fleetwings during the Second World War for use by the United States Army Air Forces. Only a single example of the type was built; the aircraft was deemed too expensive for service and was cancelled after a brief flight testing career.
Development
Development of the BQ-2 began on 10 July 1942, under a program for the development of "aerial torpedoes" – unmanned flying bombs – that had been instigated in March of that year. Fleetwings was contracted to build a single XBQ-2 assault drone,Werrell 1985, p.30. powered by two Lycoming XO-435 horizontally opposed piston engines, and fitted with a fixed landing gear in tricycle configuration; the landing gear was jettisonable for better aerodynamics.
The BQ-2 was optionally piloted; a single-seat cockpit was installed for ferry and training flights; a fairing would replace the cockpit canopy on operational missions.Parsch 2005 The BQ-2 was intended to carry a {{convert|2000|lb}} warhead over a range of {{convert|1717|mi}} at {{convert|225|mph}}; the aircraft would be destroyed in the act of striking the target. A single BQ-1 was to be constructed as well under the same contract.
Flight testing
The XO-435 engines were dropped from the design of the XBQ-2 before completion, being replaced by two Lycoming R-680 radial engines, with the aircraft being redesignated XBQ-2A.Andrade 1979, p.60.
Following trials of the television-based command guidance system using a PQ-12 target drone, the XBQ-2A flew in mid 1943; following flight trials, the design was determined to be too expensive for operational use, and the program was cancelled in December of that year.
Specifications (XBQ-2A)
File:Fleetwings XBQ-2A front.jpg
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See also
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References
{{commons category|Fleetwings BQ-2}}
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last=Andrade|first=John|title=U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909|year=1979|publisher=Midland Counties Publications|location=Leicester, UK|isbn=0-904597-22-9}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app1/bq-1.html |title= Fleetwings BQ-1/2 |first=Andreas |last=Parsch |year=2005 |work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1: Early Missiles and Drones |publisher=designation-systems.net |access-date=22 January 2013}}
- {{cite book|last=Werrell|first=Kenneth P.|title=The Evolution of the Cruise Missile|year=1985|publisher=Air University Press|location=Maxwell AFB, Alabama|isbn=978-1478363057}}
{{refend}}
{{Fleetwings aircraft}}
{{US unmanned aircraft}}
Category:1940s United States bomber aircraft
Category:Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States
Category:World War II guided missiles of the United States
Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1943