1945 WWII Radioplane Target Drone Engine & Propeller – Rare Vintage Americana – VA05

1945 WWII Radioplane Target Drone Engine & Propeller - Rare Vintage Americana

This original vintage Americana engine is in museum quality restored in working condition.

An original Radioplane Target Drone engine from 1945 U.S. Army Air Forces OQ-14.

The Righter/Kiekhaefer O-45-1 piston engine is 16 kW (22 hp).

This engine propelled the radio control target drones OQ-14 for the Army Air Force in 1945, and the TDD-3 used by the Navy.

The OQ-2 led to a series of similar but improved variants, with the OQ-3 / TDD-2 and OQ-14 / TDD-3 produced in quantity.

Offer Includes a collectors large framed photo of  Norma Jean Dougherty in 1944 and actor Reginald Denny, then a pilot in the Air Force.

Norma Jean better known as Marilyn Monroe, was discovered from the 1944 photograph taken in Van Nuys, California at the factory that was building these target drone engines, a collectors Pin up calendar in original never used condition Of Marilyn Monroe as she appeared on the cover of Play Boy Magazine . (See more details of this American history herein.)

The O-45-1 engine propels the OQ-14/TDD-3 target drone (OQ-14 for the Air Force, TDD-3 for the Navy). This heavier constructed drone target radio controlled plane has a longer fuselage and shorter wingspan than its predecessor. The radioplane was 9ft 3in long, with a wingspan of 11ft 5.5in, weighed 134 lbs, with speeds up to 140 mph, with the Righter/Kiekhaefer O-45-1 16 kW 22 hp engine.

All antique memorabilia offered are genuine collectable and appreciable assets, not fake reproductions. All items are fine collectable art at the highest world class collector level. Contact us to order vintage advertising signs, antique gas pumps, and classic Americana at 1-800-292-0008.

1945 WWII Radioplane Target Drone Engine & Propeller - Rare Vintage Americana

Old WWII Americana Specifications:

• Type: 2 Cylinder Single Engine
• Company: Kiekhaefer Corp., Cedarburg, Wis.
• Product: Radioplane O-45-1 Engine for OQ-14 Target Drone
• Era: 1945
• Speed: 140 mph
• Condition: Original, fully restored, historically correct
• Dimensions: Propeller 42"L - Engine 23" Width x 9" Height x 20" Deep - Wall Mount 9" Diameter

WWII Collectables, Classic Restorations and Vintage Memorabilia information:

• Vintage Memorabilia & Man Caves
• Historical Gas Pump Information
• Vintage Restoration

1945 WWII Radioplane Target Drone Engine & Propeller - Rare Vintage Americana

Due to our earned reputation, we have the good fortune to be in high demand by collectors. We always have a waiting list for most items. We suggest if you are looking for a specific collectable, restored to this level, please ask to be placed on our first-come, first-served list. (Refundable deposit required.) Call us at 1-800-292-0008.

Radioplane - Company History

In 1936 actor Reginald Denny, then a pilot in the Air Force, was toying around with miniature engines at Fort MacArthur when his General complained of needing target practice for his aerial gunners. This sparked Denny's idea of providing them with a radio control targets. By 1940 the army and navy were both using drone targets developed by Denny and his associates. Denny will forever by known as the father of the radio plane, also known as Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs).

During World War II photographer David Conover, working for the U.S. Army Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit, visited the Radioplane Munitions Factory in Van Nuys, California while on assignment for Yank magazine. His commanding officer - future U.S. president Ronald Reagan and an acting buddy of Reginald Denny - sent him to the military factory in 1944 to photograph the drone air plane factory. While on this assignment, Conover discover a pretty factory worker named Norma Jean Dougherty who we all know today as actress Marilyn Monroe. In these photographs you can see Monroe putting together a OQ-3 radioplane, which was the first mass produced unmanned aerial vehicle in the world.

1945 WWII Radioplane Target Drone Engine & Propeller - Rare Vintage Americana

Performing in more than 200 movies and stage shows between 1898 and 1966, Reginald Denny played both comic and dramatic roles alongside the greatest stars of the day. Somewhat less well known however was his pioneering work with engineer Walter Righter in the field of radio controlled, pilotless aviation. In the 1940s, the mass production of Denny and Righter's "Radioplane" target drone led to the widespread adoption of radio controlled aircraft by the military for not only training AAA gunners but also combat roles from the Pacific Theatre in WW2 through to the present day.

Source: wikipedia.org, designation-systems.net, criticalpast.com, ctie.monash.edu.au

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1945 WWII Radioplane Target Drone Engine & Propeller - Rare Vintage Americana