The First Drones

The first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for recreational use were the wind-up helicopters developed in the fourteenth century.

In 1804, Sir George Caley (commonly known as the Father of Aviation) developed a bow-powered helicopter and glider.

In 1848, John Stringfellow developed the first machine-powered UAV, a steam-powered aircraft with a ten-foot wingspan. The prototype was flown in an unused lace factory (but never developed further).

In 1849 the first military use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recorded were those used by the Austrian Army . During the siege of Venice, the Austrians secured some bombs to a fleet of unmanned balloons. Using fuses pre-cut to test lengths, they let the balloons drift over Venice. One bomb worked, and the rest were blown back over the Austrians, or out to sea.

In 1871 Alphonse Penaud developed the first rubber-band powered glider, initially as a novelty, and later as a toy.

In 1894, British physicist Oliver Lodge demonstrated the first radio control (RC) of a remote object, a galvanometer.

In 1898 Nicolai Tesla demonstrated the first radio-controlled drone, a UWV (Unmanned Water Vehicle) or radio-controlled boat. This was the first recorded RPV (Remotely-Powered Vehicle).

In 1900 the next recorded unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was the first glider built by Wilbur and Orville Wright. The two-wing, tailless glider was flown first by Wilbur laying on the lower wing, while a ‘ground crew’ added ballast to keep the glider from flying too far or too fast (all they were trying to do at this point was design a good wing, with lift). After their first ‘manned’ glider flight, the next few were unmanned, with logs and even a local boy used for ballast.

In 1916 Ruston Proctor built the first actual remotely-controlled UAV. It was a radio-controlled ‘Aerial Target’ for anti-aircraft gunnery practice.

In September 1916, the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane had its first test flight. Known as the ‘flying bomb’, it was supposed to be a sort of aerial torpedo, and could perhaps be considered the first ‘cruise missile.’

In 1918 the US Army built an improved drone (now called ‘the Kettering Bug’), modeled after the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane. It had its first flight (just a bit late for use in World War 1).

A series of aerial targets and torpedoes were developed not long after, but the next step came in the form of aerial reconnaissance.

In 1929, Kalman Tihanyi (a Hungarian scientist) developed a prototype of an aerial camera,and later in the same year a prototype for an IR (Infra-Red) scanner, for use by the British Air Ministry.

Around this time, UAVs began to be called ‘drones’, with some speculating it was in reference to the DeHaviland ‘Queen Bee’ aerial target. In 1936, the term became semi-official when the head of a US Navy research group (on radio-controlled UAVs) referred to them as drones.

In 1936, the R/C (radio-controlled) model aircraft nationals were held in Detroit. Zero planes were entered. The next year, six planes were entered, mostly gas-engine powered, radio controlled airplane models. Three of them flew (albeit only for a short time), and the other three didn’t get off the ground.

In 1942 the first UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) was built by the (US) Naval Air Factory. The UCAV was equipped with an RCA TV camera and an aerial-launched torpedo. It was controlled by radio, mounted in a command plane which received the TV-signal and guided the drone to the target. It successfully delivered torpedoes on a frigate, while guided from twenty miles away by the command plane. Somehow, in the midst of the war and war production, the idea was never taken seriously enough to be implemented further.

Also in 1942, the German Luftwaffe built the first jet-powered cruise missile, the V-1. The basically ‘fire-and-forget’ V-1 was scheduled to be replaced by an improved design V-2, with better jets than the original pulse-jet, and with long-range radio control. Both this superior design UAV and a (manned) jet-powered fighter were disapproved, with the Luftwaffe instead selecting the (manned) Messerschmidt fighter, and staying with the relatively unreliable V-1 UAV (a decision which would have a fatal effect on the German war plans).

After World War 2, the Navy and Army Air Corps both used converted fighters or bombers as sensor drones, testing radiation from nuclear tests.

In 1958 that the US Army acquired the first actual purpose-built, production reconnaissance drone, the Aerojet General SD-2 ‘Overseer’.

In 1958, Lockheed built the first helicopter version of an RC UAV, modeled after the standard helicopter. It was designed for helicopter testing.

In 1964 (check) the first RC model aircraft kit was sold (prior to this, recreational model RC UAVs were amateur-built, from components).

In 1969, John Burkham demonstrated a six-second flight with his two pound, unmanned ‘free-flight’ helicopter model ‘Little Susie’ at the 12th annual RC Symposium.

In 1971 the first ‘toy’ RC helicopter model kits were sold in Germany.

During the Vietnam conflict, the US Air Force used a number of airplane-launched reconnaissance drones (which the North Vietnamese Air Force also used as aerial drones for gunnery practice, shooting down six AQM-34 drones with their (Soviet-provided) MIG-21s.

In 1977, Dr. Paul B. MacCready and his AeroVironment company developed the ultra-light, solar-power HALE UAV, the “Gossamer Condor”, which won the (ironically-named) Kremer Prize for Human Powered Flight

In 1982, the Israeli defense forces used a series of advanced UCAVs along with fighter planes to destroy the (previously superior) Syrian Air Force. This Middle East conflict ushered in the era of modern UAVs, which would be further tested in the region in decades to come.

In 1990, US forces used the RQ-2 Pioneer UAV in Operation Desert Storm (Iraq). At one point, Iraqi troops tried to surrender to an RQ-1 hovering overhead.

In 1995 the USAF RQ-1 Predator (in a reconnaissance capacity only) was used in the Balkans conflict.

In 1998, the first HALE (High Altitude, Long Endurance) UAV flight was recorded, when the Australian company Aerosonde flew the ‘Laima’ over the North Atlantic Ocean. The US Navy worked to purchase modified versions.

In 2002 the first recorded CIA drone killing occurred, in Afghanistan. It was during an attempt on what was thought to be Osama BinLaden, but was actually an innocent scrap-metal collector named Daraz Khan. Further strikes were made in Afghanistan and in the 2003 ‘War’ in Iraq. The RQ-1 (reconnaissance version) Predator was then designated MQ-1 (multi-role capacity).

In 2006, the first commercial drone permits were issued by the FAA, reducing flight restriction previously imposed on recreational flights.

In 2010, French company Parrot released the first recreational RTF (Ready to Fly) drone, the AR Drone, a wifi controlled UAV with a camera mounted on the fuselage.

In the ten years since, recreational, commercial, and military UAV sales and technology have sky-rocketed, spreading worldwide.