“"The OQ-2 was a simple, low-wing monoplane powered by a sm..."”
The OQ-2 was a simple, low-wing monoplane powered by a small two-stroke engine. Launched by catapult and recovered by parachute, it served as an anti-aircraft training target for the Army and Navy. During World War II, Radioplane and its successors manufactured nearly 15,000 OQ-2 and OQ-3 drones, making them among the most numerous American aircraft of the conflict. The company's assembly lines attracted the attention of Army Air Forces Captain Ronald Reagan, who sent a photographer to document female factory workers for Yank, the Army Weekly magazine. The photographer, David Conover, was drawn to a young assembler named Norma Jeane Dougherty; his photographs launched her modeling career, and she would soon rechristen herself Marilyn Monroe.
The engineering principles pioneered here—The OQ-2 was a simple, low-wing monoplane powered by a small two-stroke engine—are still embedded in the aircraft you fly today.