That is actually Dr Felton's secret. He collapses the multiverse by observing "history" that exists somewhere in the multiple continuum's, writes a persuasive script, then presents it to us. We are convinced, and the subsequent mass-observation of the "new history" simply shifts us all over into that particular timeline. My dad used to do the same thing on a smaller, and objectively less successful scale. "I want everyone dressed and ready for our trip before 6am so we can leave before the traffic" *Everyone waiting for him to finish dressing at 6.30* : . . . Dad : "I said 6.45".
The electromechanical controls using the technology of the day must’ve been something to see. Thanks for another interesting chapter of forgotten World War II history.
You know something I think with the secrecy around the project the Japanese thought these were Amercian Kamikaze's..Im serious Im convinced thats what they thought.
They had problems with static electricity,lightning,iron /nickel ore deposits and electrical storms. The early Recievers would conk out...leaving the Aircraft to fly straight and true on the same course until the fuel ran out...or they were shot down. Stray Signals could effect them too. Dad worked with Heddy LaMarr( yes,the beautiful Actress.) He spoke with Her during their work on the Torpedo Guidence Program. She( not Her Former Piano Playing Husband - who the Navy Brass gave the credit too) figured out Frequency Hopping and Pools of Conductivity. This established the Guidlines for G.P.S Navigation and Cellular Communication,as well as Missile Guidance and the Top Secret Kamikaze Killer Proximity Fuze. Sewing Machine and Vaccum Cleaner Companies played a big part as well as Mccullugh Engine Company and Lycoming.
@@SirAntoniousBlock there are at least a couple. One that the americans developed and one british for sure. A quick google search will give you some ideas.
I can't even imagine the Germans and British having drones back in the days of WW2 ..this is some really forgotten history brought back to life...by the history teacher I never had..Mark Felton!
The first drone aircraft appeared soon after the end of the First World War, obviously they were not perfect and were not the best but they were present
Drones in their raw form were not that hard to achieve. Both the British and Germans created forms of drone or guided weapon at some point in the war. The British were playing around with early cruise missiles in *1917* and the US was just afterwards. The reality is that many of the major powers were experimenting in the same kinds of technology, but most opted to somewhat conservatively hold back from putting things in frontline use for a multitude of reasons; largely because of the fear of useful tech falling into enemy hands, and the actual benefit to your own side being negligible. I'm actually kind of surprised the US was willing to throw these drones at the Japanese. Perhaps they thought the Japanese had no chance of reverse engineering any of the important bits lol
The Americans used reconnaissance drones extensively in Vietnam. From what I've read, although they were unarmed, they scored some air to air kills, usually with the North Vietnamese pilots chasing them too far out to sea and unable to get back.
The same airframe as used for live fire air to air missile training and tests iirc. Built by Ryan. Of course for missile tests any number of old aircraft were used.
These were originally tested in Michigan and bombed Waugoshance Lightstation. When Dr. Felton mentions hitting the lighthouse at Cape St. George, the footage used is actually Waugoshance. Then thought of as “gov’t. surplus”, it started a fire that severely damaged the lighthouse. Unfortunately our group that tried to save the lighthouse disbanded last year.
I used to do this in my books and other writings but gave up as it became too cumbersome. I now figure that if my reader is interested enough to read what I wrote then he is smart enough to do his own conversions. Any attempt on my part to convert for him insults his intelligence.
The US has got to get ON the metric standard and OFF the Imperial units “crackpipe”. We are no doubt hurting our export economy with not being able to conform to worldwide measurement standards and criteria, or having to produce export materials on separate production lines. We can do this in less than a generation!
Designed by the Schwinn Bicycle Co. And produced by the Wurlitzer Piano Co.. Wartime production was truly amazing, how a business devoted to one thing suddenly had to make something entirely different! Drones tuned in the key of C, with a Schwinn coaster brake. And they were a success!! Thank you Mark Felton for once again surprising us all.
To me the wildest change-overs were Rock-Ola jukebox company building M1 Carbines and the Lionel Train Company building navigational equipment for the Navy.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Wow, that really is a change of production for both of those companies! I'm really trying to picture that, a juke box company making rifles, and a toy train company making navigational equipment?! Just unbelievable, I can't imagine the switch happening easily, many different manufacturing processes involved, technologies, ways of thinking. It must have driven the personnel nuts!
@@chuckkottke I'll tell you a story, and call me crazy if you want to, but several years ago I handled a Lionel model 226e, a pre-WW2 toy train engine and one of Lionels top-of-the-line products. I swear I could almost FEEL the power of American industry of the time just holding that toy! Just the weight, mass, and quality of the thing! This was the power that was going to crush Germany and Japan several years later. Absolutely incredible. The war was won just as much in the factories as it was in the combat zones. I don't know if we could do it today considering how much manufacturing has been lost here in the US. Just to add to your amazement, M1 Carbines were also built by Winchester (no surprise) IBM, the Saginaw Steering Division of General Motors, National Postal Meter, and Quality Hardware.
One of the Kennedy family members died in a drone mission in WW2. It just amazes me how high tech this stuff was for the time. They also used drones to fly into the cloud of the A-bomb for samples.
Joe Kennedy - JFK’s brother. He flew an old bomber that had been filled with explosives - he was supposed to bail out and then it would crash into its target, but it exploded early…
Knew about Project Aphrodite but not of the sampling drones. Couldn't have been used over Japan but easily could have been during the extensive post-war atomic tests.
@@michaelandreipalon359 There's John Jr, right? And then I suppose Ted Kennedy's car flew the the air briefly before it hit the water. Btw, did you ever see the parody VW Beetle ad that National Lampoon did? The Beetle was famous for its ability to float (for a while). The caption read "If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen he'd be President today."
Why are you surprised that this wasn’t taught in your history class? Even if it was The History of Aviation, this is a very minor sub-paragraph with maybe a footnote…
I'm 69 now but I've worked in the aviation world all my life. I did ten years in the RAF as ground crew from 70 to 80 and went on to work for BAe for decades after that. Worked on some fantastic projects from VC10 tanker conversions to F1-11 refurbishing. To my utter amazement, I've never heard of many of the things you come up with on your channel. I watch your releases when possible with a great deal of respect and glee. It's like XMas when u hit us with one. I thank you for unparalleled research and accuracy.
Wow, Dr Mark. Another revelatory piece. I had been in the large UAV business (GH and Triton) for several years and thought I knew the drone history well. This was a fabulous history lesson for which I am very grateful.
I remember them coming up with drone missiles that were aimed by real pigeons who were trained to peck at ships that would align the target. Crazy stuff!
That's not a drone, that's a cruise missile and it was a different project. Just because its radio controlled does not make it a drone and the pigeons themself were onbroad meaning they were piloted with pilot in the missile which means not a drone
Fascinating! This is the first I've heard of the US Navy's drone program during WW2. Pacific Theater veterans told me of the Navy's precursors to todays smart bombs, the "Bat" and the "Tiny Tim." Both worked well and could probably have been improved but the technolgy was dropped after the war. The smart bomb concept wouldn't return until Vietnam.
Stand-off bombs, possibly t.v.-guided, would have been useful in Korea, where the B-29s still in service were no match for the Russian-supplied (and -manned) MiG 15s of the North Koreans.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS.................. *Admirals, like Politicians, have a vested interest in the status quo* & don't want new fangled ideas diverting funding or importance from their own bailliwick?
Don't forget that after WWII there was a sort of crazyness for the A-bomb, really a lot of politicians tought that developing/improving conventional weapons was only a waste of money, after all they reputed (wrongly) that nuclear weapons would've reigned over future battle fields. This was one of the reasons that the US neglected their armed forces, at least until Korea, and also until the Vietnam some branches , as the tank corp, were reputed 2nd class.
@@alessiodecarolis Quite true, and even some in the military establishment believed the same. "Well, we've got the A-Bomb now so what do need (Fill in the blank) for? The Navy had to fight for capital ship funding and the Marine Corps was nearly disbanded. The old lesson always seems to have to be re-learned: "Prepare for war, but NOT for any war in particular!"
It should be mentioned there is one single example of a complete original TDR Drone in the world at the National Naval Aviation Museum at NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola in Florida, USA. There is a second TDR partial airframe fuselage undergoing restoration at the DeKalb Municipal Airport in Illinois, USA as well. Great video and insight as always.
A lot of what we think of as 'modern' technology was proposed, or in development, decades ago. Mobile phone service...different from modern cellular service...became commercially available in the US in 1946. Electronic television was first developed in the 1930s. In 1982, when I was a university student, I enrolled in a computer science class where I was given and account on a Digital PDP-11. That Machine was connected to an experimental computer network called the ARPANET, which eventually became the internet. I had an email account in 1982. The ARPA program was the civilian division of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which was established by the US gov to counter Soviet advances in technology after the Soviets launched the SPUTNIK satellite in 1957. Speaking of the internet, the first experiments in what would lead to the internet took place in 1969, and email was invented in 1972. As for warfare, Nikola Tesla demonstrated a radio controlled boat he proposed for use in warfare. This demonstration took place in 1898! What makes high tech ubiquitous and cheap today was the invention of the transistor. The transistor was invented in Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1947.
Imagine how spooky it would be to shoot down a plane, see it crash, and see no pilot, and no instruments with which to fly in 1944. To the average Japanese soldier of the time, they might as well have been fighting aliens.
They probably won't be too shocked, but feel hopeless since they need to send tons of young man to dead meanwhile their enemy can just sit comfortably and watch lifeless weapon guide it self towards the target.
@ALUX TAIWAN Did the Imperial forces utilize kamikaze tactics prior to the final stages of the war? If not, is it possible they were inspired by the US drone attacks (whether or not they realized they were unmanned)?
A drone squadron was later used in a nuclear test named "Operation Crossroads". The drones (converted corsairs) entered the mushroom cloud at various altitudes and collected valuable scientific data.
I had never heard of these, nor the squadrons, nor their use during WWII. Super interesting. I was aware of some of the drone experimentation going on globally but not this particular program and system. Thanks Mark.
Just like the Napoleonic Wars or the American Civil War people will still be studying WW2 200 years from now. An incredible story with an incredible cast of characters no fiction writer could make up.
I have military histories since I could hold a 'grown-up' book, with emphasis on WWII, and have never read anything about this. Once again, Dr. Felton has brought precious ore to the surface. Thank you for all you do, Mark; this old guy loves to learn, and I am learning from the best.
I very seldom come across something new to me, despite reading something about WWII every day for the better part of 40 years. I wonder if you don’t hear much about it because it was such a poor call to end development. How many lives could have been spared In not just WWII, but subsequent conflicts if America had continued? Conversely, how many more would have been lost when on the receiving end of the drone strikes? Thank you Dr. Felton, you are the richest source of “new” material for me.
Amazing! Dr. Mark Felton has done it again. I never even knew these drones even existed, let alone that there were attempts at making drones as far back as world war I. It amazes me that in the 12 years of studying world war II history, I still learn something new particularly from Mark Felton. Thank you for your diligent work and research.
Thankyou! Back in 2016 I met a US veteran in an antiques store while visiting the States and he mentioned how he flew drones during WW2. I was a little sceptical but this proves he was right!
Why is Dr. Felton the only one providing this very current and relevant information? Including detailed films of the actual strikes! Bravo once again Dr. Felton.
Interesting question that comes to mind: Did the Japanese think they were using suicide aircraft against them...? My guess is that they'd be able to determine they were unmanned by analysing wreckage, and eventually get their hands on a wreck that failed to detonate, but for a period they may have thought they were manned; and once a rumour is in place, they tend to linger
In fact they did. Japanese newspapers reported Americans were conducting suicide missions. And this was BEFORE the Japanese began using Kamikaze attacks in early 1945. It is quite possible that these drone attacks were what gave the Japanese officers who proposed Kamikaze tactics the idea in the first place.
@@PxThucydides That's really interesting. Do you know how that was received in Japan? But I'm confident in saying it wouldn't have given the Japanese the idea - but it's not impossible that it might have contributed to them really "jumping off that cliff", so-to-speak
@@PxThucydides Even if the idea already existed the fact that the US were using the drones may have given the idea the impetuous Japan needed to go ahead with it.
Or, conversely, did the Americans begin to consider the idea of a drone after identifying the idea of suicide attacks? After all, what’s a drone attack? A suicide attack without a pilot
I was watching along pretty amazed that there were actually functioning drones in WWII and then Schwinn and Wurlitzer came into the picture. A bicycle company makes sense since the Wright Bros. were bike makers, but a piano company?! I'd love to hear more detail of how Wurlitzer got involved. Great video!
Wurlizter makes more sense to me since they fabricated their products out of wood, and afaik of wood laminates for curved surfaces. A pipe organ has a lot of hidden complex structures made out of wood, I was able to crawl around inside of a couple when a teenager. Schwinn makes some sense if the fuselage had a frame of steel tubing.
Mechanical control systems, including music box drums or player piano roll systems, are the kind of thing that is very useful for programming something like a robotic aircraft or missile. Here's another one: in the 60s when Project Orion was in development, they needed a system that could eject nuclear explosives out the back of a nuclear pulse-propelled vehicle at a steady rate of 1 per second, so General Atomics contracted Coca Cola to help develop it, since Coke's bottling machines worked in a similar manner.
I've never heard of drones being used successfully during WWII. I'm amazed that the Navy brass thought that piloted aircraft were still better for risky missions.
I remember there was an episode of the PBS show "History Detectives" about this and even though I consider myself a history buff, this info was a surprise to me. I knew about the German Fritz X that was used to sink the Roma and while I was also aware of the work with radio-controlled bombers that led to the death of JFK's older bother, I had no idea the US was using actual unmanned drones 60 years before I thought we were.
Mark, I am now a student of WWII history. I never imagined there were drones during the war. I simply cannot go to sleep at night without watching one of your educational videos! True story.
I got to fly the TDR-1 in the '70's. Great airplane. A pleasure to fly. We made a trade with the Antique Airplane Association headquarters in Blakesburg Iowa. They had no idea we would fly it out of there, but we did, and flew it back to Tulsa, Harvey Young airport.
I knew about several WW2 drones and guided glide bombs on all sides, but never came across this twin-engined one. And I've looked at *a lot* of WW2 books and videos for several decades. An incredible "what if" if these drones had continued operating and improving during 1945.
I never knew my country actually had drones in the Pacific during the war. But I do know of several tests that they tried to make unmanned B-17 flying fortresses. Unfortunately one of the test pilots who died during the test was John F. Kennedy‘s older brother Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. The name of the operation was Operation Aphrodite.
My father was a Seabee in the Solomons. When he was stationed on Banika Island he said there was a unit testing drones. One day they loaded their equipment on a barge took it out in the channel and shoved it all overboard then left.
The ONE, CONSISTENT factor which Dr. Felton has noted from time to time is the short- sightedness of the U.S. military in any given war. We're it not for a love of needless human blood shedding for upper echelon officers, more lives would be saved and the cost of waging a war lessened.
One such case was the 1920s development of the Parafrag Bombs,ignored for almost 20 years and then brought back to be used against Japanese Airfields in the Pacific.
Another great story from WW2, I particularly like stories like these linked to technology. WW2 generated lots of ideas and a trove of new technological concepts and advancements.
4:11 Check out the debris splashes on the right of the screen. Wouldn't have thought debris would fly that far. Love your videos and the amazing research you do, thank you for digging up all these fascinating stories, and especially all the old video!
Holy cow…I never would imagine we had this technology back them… but if you really think about it, wasn’t the V2 somewhat a flying drone/ bomb? Think the difference was the V2 would drop anywhere when out of fuel. The drones had someone controlling the flight…still, I’m amazed… Another great History lesson by our great teacher 👍
The Germans experimented with television guided radio controlled Hs 293 anti ship missiles (visually guided Hs 293s were used in combat) . The V-1 was more of a cruise missile since it followed a pre set path to a target, and indeed dropped to hit by cutting the engine. The V-2 however was a ballistic missile.
@@ba-dam9991 V-1s had wings and were a Rocket Powered Glide Bomb. V-2s were a Missle. The U.S. States built" Super V-2s" that were bigger after the War for Testing at White Sands Missile Range.Look up Operation Paper Clip and Verner Von Braum.
Just fascinating! I thought television came out after the war. And to think it was successfully utilized in 1944 with drones... I thought I knew a lot about aviation history but this is another first for me. So enjoyable to still be learning something new about foundational technology - thank you, Dr. Felton!
The earliest rudimentary forms of television were invented in the late 1920s. Improvements continually took place and there were television broadcasts from the 1939 New York World's Fair. TV had also reached a pretty good stage of developement in Britain and Germany by 1939 as well but the war put a stop to any further commercial use, at least for the duration.
Very interesting how lack of imagination often cuts short promising technological innovations! It took about another 60 years until military use of drones returned. Thanks Mark for the very interesting documentary!
mark, this is some excellent historical material that you have brought to light. I've never heard of the americans employing something akin to a wunderwaffen in ww2.
Dr Felton, again you have shown me and I dare say the majority of us here yet another aspect of WW2 that I had completely no idea about... Amazing. I was truly glued to the screen in a lil bit of shock and awe, as I knew about German guided bombs of WW2 but completely missed this! Thank you.
I've spent countless hours watching most if not all of your videos. This is by far top 3 videos you've released, what an interesting story that I'd imagine is widely unknown. Great job as usual Mark!
I've been a WWII nut since my teens and engineer as an adult for 30 years, thought of the Fritz-X as the high water point of aviation technology of the time. I'm floored! Always more to learn from this channel. To the military leadership with such little vision I fell little more than contempt. This technology could have spared the life of Joseph Kennedy and many others.
This almost feels like an alternate reality. Incredible.
Exactly - The Man in the High Castle!
That is actually Dr Felton's secret. He collapses the multiverse by observing "history" that exists somewhere in the multiple continuum's, writes a persuasive script, then presents it to us.
We are convinced, and the subsequent mass-observation of the "new history" simply shifts us all over into that particular timeline.
My dad used to do the same thing on a smaller, and objectively less successful scale.
"I want everyone dressed and ready for our trip before 6am so we can leave before the traffic"
*Everyone waiting for him to finish dressing at 6.30* : . . .
Dad : "I said 6.45".
There was an unmanned drone made who's navigation was based on star navigation
Imagine what could have been possible if the USA had won the war!
SERIOUSLY ?? How would you know what a so called alternate reality feels like ??
The electromechanical controls using the technology of the day must’ve been something to see. Thanks for another interesting chapter of forgotten World War II history.
You know something I think with the secrecy around the project the Japanese thought these were Amercian Kamikaze's..Im serious Im convinced thats what they thought.
@@wirelessone2986 Unless they could observe them and see that there was no cockpit.
I bet they buzzed and clicked like crazy
All the reading i have done involving WW2 and I have never heard of this. Dr. Felton is amazing at finding gems.
They had problems with static electricity,lightning,iron /nickel ore deposits and electrical storms. The early Recievers would conk out...leaving the Aircraft to fly straight and true on the same course until the fuel ran out...or they were shot down. Stray Signals could effect them too. Dad worked with Heddy LaMarr( yes,the beautiful Actress.) He spoke with Her during their work on the Torpedo Guidence Program. She( not Her Former Piano Playing Husband - who the Navy Brass gave the credit too) figured out Frequency Hopping and Pools of Conductivity. This established the Guidlines for G.P.S Navigation and Cellular Communication,as well as Missile Guidance and the Top Secret Kamikaze Killer Proximity Fuze. Sewing Machine and Vaccum Cleaner Companies played a big part as well as Mccullugh Engine Company and Lycoming.
How in the hell did I live this long and not know that there were remote drones, not only invented but actually used in combat during WWII? 🤯
A rudimentary system was developed and used in WW1 actually.
@@patrickmclaughlin61 That's amazing! 😳
I was thinking the exact same thing.
@@patrickmclaughlin61 How did they work? Like a sort of propeller driven thing that you point and throw at the enemy trenches?
@@SirAntoniousBlock there are at least a couple. One that the americans developed and one british for sure.
A quick google search will give you some ideas.
I can't even imagine the Germans and British having drones back in the days of WW2 ..this is some really forgotten history brought back to life...by the history teacher I never had..Mark Felton!
Germany had cruise missiles and anti air homing missiles though.
The first drone aircraft appeared soon after the end of the First World War, obviously they were not perfect and were not the best but they were present
Germany had first large scale tv broadcast of the Olympics. They also used a wire guided air to ground missile.
They had but didnt perform as expected, allies shot them down.
Drones in their raw form were not that hard to achieve. Both the British and Germans created forms of drone or guided weapon at some point in the war. The British were playing around with early cruise missiles in *1917* and the US was just afterwards. The reality is that many of the major powers were experimenting in the same kinds of technology, but most opted to somewhat conservatively hold back from putting things in frontline use for a multitude of reasons; largely because of the fear of useful tech falling into enemy hands, and the actual benefit to your own side being negligible.
I'm actually kind of surprised the US was willing to throw these drones at the Japanese. Perhaps they thought the Japanese had no chance of reverse engineering any of the important bits lol
The Americans used reconnaissance drones extensively in Vietnam. From what I've read, although they were unarmed, they scored some air to air kills, usually with the North Vietnamese pilots chasing them too far out to sea and unable to get back.
My Uncle worked on those in Vietnam.
He has some interesting stories.
@@shawnr771 Please share!
@@patdigit Too long and too many years ago from when he told me for me to remember the details.
The same airframe as used for live fire air to air missile training and tests iirc. Built by Ryan. Of course for missile tests any number of old aircraft were used.
I have a picture on my phone saved of those drones post Vietnam, armed with two mavericks. Very interesting.
WWII is the most interesting time in human history, as well as being some of the darkest and most evil times.
If you find dark times interesting, get ready for 2024.
@@skwalka6372 we alrdy did since 2020
@@goldbell1972 lmao
Matter of opinion.
@@skwalka6372 We got a sneak preview, just look at what the Burmese did, same with Ughyrs in China and Russians/Turks in Syria.
These were originally tested in Michigan and bombed Waugoshance Lightstation. When Dr. Felton mentions hitting the lighthouse at Cape St. George, the footage used is actually Waugoshance. Then thought of as “gov’t. surplus”, it started a fire that severely damaged the lighthouse. Unfortunately our group that tried to save the lighthouse disbanded last year.
The group was STAG-1 stationed at the Naval Air Station in Traverse City.
Love how Mark gives both imperial and metric measurements for speed, distance, weight etc. Very considerate
I try
Maybe we Americans (Liberians and people in Myanmar) should also be “very considerate” and learn the metric system.
@@executivesteps 57 years without much metric use, I'm all set thanks.
I used to do this in my books and other writings but gave up as it became too cumbersome. I now figure that if my reader is interested enough to read what I wrote then he is smart enough to do his own conversions. Any attempt on my part to convert for him insults his intelligence.
The US has got to get ON the metric standard and OFF the Imperial units “crackpipe”. We are no doubt hurting our export economy with not being able to conform to worldwide measurement standards and criteria, or having to produce export materials on separate production lines. We can do this in less than a generation!
Designed by the Schwinn Bicycle Co. And produced by the Wurlitzer Piano Co.. Wartime production was truly amazing, how a business devoted to one thing suddenly had to make something entirely different! Drones tuned in the key of C, with a Schwinn coaster brake. And they were a success!! Thank you Mark Felton for once again surprising us all.
To me the wildest change-overs were Rock-Ola jukebox company building M1 Carbines and the Lionel Train Company building navigational equipment for the Navy.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Wow, that really is a change of production for both of those companies! I'm really trying to picture that, a juke box company making rifles, and a toy train company making navigational equipment?! Just unbelievable, I can't imagine the switch happening easily, many different manufacturing processes involved, technologies, ways of thinking. It must have driven the personnel nuts!
@@chuckkottke I'll tell you a story, and call me crazy if you want to, but several years ago I handled a Lionel model 226e, a pre-WW2 toy train engine and one of Lionels top-of-the-line products. I swear I could almost FEEL the power of American industry of the time just holding that toy! Just the weight, mass, and quality of the thing! This was the power that was going to crush Germany and Japan several years later.
Absolutely incredible. The war was won just as much in the factories as it was in the combat zones. I don't know if we could do it today considering how much manufacturing has been lost here in the US.
Just to add to your amazement, M1 Carbines were also built by Winchester (no surprise) IBM, the Saginaw Steering Division of General Motors, National Postal Meter, and Quality Hardware.
One of the Kennedy family members died in a drone mission in WW2. It just amazes me how high tech this stuff was for the time. They also used drones to fly into the cloud of the A-bomb for samples.
Joe Kennedy - JFK’s brother. He flew an old bomber that had been filled with explosives - he was supposed to bail out and then it would crash into its target, but it exploded early…
Knew about Project Aphrodite but not of the sampling drones. Couldn't have been used over Japan but easily could have been during the extensive post-war atomic tests.
Another victim of the Kennedy air curse...
@@michaelandreipalon359 There's John Jr, right? And then I suppose Ted Kennedy's car flew the the air briefly before it hit the water.
Btw, did you ever see the parody VW Beetle ad that National Lampoon did? The Beetle was famous for its ability to float (for a while). The caption read "If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen he'd be President today."
Yes, John Jr., and also JFK's sister Rosemary.
Hmm, I think have faint memories of that ad...
It blows my mind how long remotely controlled drones have been around! This wasn’t taught in any of my history classes.
Imagine the surprise of a drone operator from WW2 who lived to see modern day drones and what they are capable of now.
The US used retired remote controlled warplanes from WW2 as missile practice in the 40’s and 50’s.
Why are you surprised that this wasn’t taught in your history class? Even if it was The History of Aviation, this is a very minor sub-paragraph with maybe a footnote…
Good point Sam I am. It’s wild to have never heard of it even in WW2 history classes in college as well.
@@stevensrp2music985 Which is why we subscribe to Dr. Felton and others for more in-depth history.
I'm 69 now but I've worked in the aviation world all my life. I did ten years in the RAF as ground crew from 70 to 80 and went on to work for BAe for decades after that. Worked on some fantastic projects from VC10 tanker conversions to F1-11 refurbishing. To my utter amazement, I've never heard of many of the things you come up with on your channel. I watch your releases when possible with a great deal of respect and glee. It's like XMas when u hit us with one. I thank you for unparalleled research and accuracy.
American Navy: Suicide planes Pilots Not Included
Japanese Navy: Suicide planes Pilots INCLUDED
Japanese admiral: we need to make up those numbers, assign two pilots to each plane
Wow, Dr Mark. Another revelatory piece. I had been in the large UAV business (GH and Triton) for several years and thought I knew the drone history well. This was a fabulous history lesson for which I am very grateful.
I’m surprised this was never classified
The USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio has a Kettering “Bug” on display. Thanks for another awesome history lesson Dr. Felton!
I remember them coming up with drone missiles that were aimed by real pigeons who were trained to peck at ships that would align the target. Crazy stuff!
Similar system used in peacetime to spot people lost at sea.
Well... there were Chicken Heated Nuclear Land Mines, too.
That's not a drone, that's a cruise missile and it was a different project. Just because its radio controlled does not make it a drone and the pigeons themself were onbroad meaning they were piloted with pilot in the missile which means not a drone
@@VELOC113 kamikaze pigeons
It was abandoned after the first live fire test it appears they tried to use homing pigeons 💥
Fascinating! This is the first I've heard of the US Navy's drone program during WW2.
Pacific Theater veterans told me of the Navy's precursors to todays smart bombs, the "Bat" and the "Tiny Tim." Both worked well and could probably have been improved but the technolgy was dropped after the war. The smart bomb concept wouldn't return until Vietnam.
Stand-off bombs, possibly t.v.-guided, would have been useful in Korea, where the B-29s still in service were no match for the Russian-supplied (and -manned) MiG 15s of the North Koreans.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS..................
*Admirals, like Politicians, have a vested interest in the status quo* & don't want new fangled ideas diverting funding or importance from their own bailliwick?
Don't forget that after WWII there was a sort of crazyness for the A-bomb, really a lot of politicians tought that developing/improving conventional weapons was only a waste of money, after all they reputed (wrongly) that nuclear weapons would've reigned over future battle fields. This was one of the reasons that the US neglected their armed forces, at least until Korea, and also until the Vietnam some branches , as the tank corp, were reputed 2nd class.
@@alessiodecarolis Quite true, and even some in the military establishment believed the same. "Well, we've got the A-Bomb now so what do need (Fill in the blank) for?
The Navy had to fight for capital ship funding and the Marine Corps was nearly disbanded.
The old lesson always seems to have to be re-learned:
"Prepare for war, but NOT for any war in particular!"
Wasn't the tiny tim unguided but powered?
It should be mentioned there is one single example of a complete original TDR Drone in the world at the National Naval Aviation Museum at NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola in Florida, USA. There is a second TDR partial airframe fuselage undergoing restoration at the DeKalb Municipal Airport in Illinois, USA as well. Great video and insight as always.
Wonderful! I was hoping that there may be one in existence still.
Another "modern warfare" idea that's actually way more older than you'd expect. Thanks for this, Mr. Felton.
A lot of what we think of as 'modern' technology was proposed, or in development, decades ago. Mobile phone service...different from modern cellular service...became commercially available in the US in 1946. Electronic television was first developed in the 1930s. In 1982, when I was a university student, I enrolled in a computer science class where I was given and account on a Digital PDP-11. That Machine was connected to an experimental computer network called the ARPANET, which eventually became the internet. I had an email account in 1982. The ARPA program was the civilian division of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which was established by the US gov to counter Soviet advances in technology after the Soviets launched the SPUTNIK satellite in 1957. Speaking of the internet, the first experiments in what would lead to the internet took place in 1969, and email was invented in 1972. As for warfare, Nikola Tesla demonstrated a radio controlled boat he proposed for use in warfare. This demonstration took place in 1898! What makes high tech ubiquitous and cheap today was the invention of the transistor. The transistor was invented in Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1947.
Imagine how spooky it would be to shoot down a plane, see it crash, and see no pilot, and no instruments with which to fly in 1944. To the average Japanese soldier of the time, they might as well have been fighting aliens.
They probably won't be too shocked, but feel hopeless since they need to send tons of young man to dead meanwhile their enemy can just sit comfortably and watch lifeless weapon guide it self towards the target.
@ALUX TAIWAN Did the Imperial forces utilize kamikaze tactics prior to the final stages of the war? If not, is it possible they were inspired by the US drone attacks (whether or not they realized they were unmanned)?
Actually Japanese officer who was under attack wasn't too surprised - he worked with remote-controlled target practice planes before the war
Could this be inspiration for the Japanese kamikaze tactics? Planes full of explosives were crashing with precision.
@@jimmyfandago3211 nope. they were doing those attacks well before this took place
Dr. Mark Felton never ceases to amaze!
I had no idea the US was that far along with combat drones in WWII. Thank you once again for a well developed story.
A drone squadron was later used in a nuclear test named "Operation Crossroads". The drones (converted corsairs) entered the mushroom cloud at various altitudes and collected valuable scientific data.
Another example of Dr. Felton teaching us unknown history, thank you Mark for all you do.
I had never heard of these, nor the squadrons, nor their use during WWII. Super interesting. I was aware of some of the drone experimentation going on globally but not this particular program and system. Thanks Mark.
No matter how much I think I know about WWII there's always something more. Thanks, Mark.
WW2 has been covered so much, but still somehow Dr. Felton always finds a way for us to learn something new and interesting! 😀
Just like the Napoleonic Wars or the American Civil War people will still be studying WW2 200 years from now. An incredible story with an incredible cast of characters no fiction writer could make up.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Yeah! You are 100% correct, absolutely wonderful stories, and the fact that it really happened is just truly amazing. 💯👍👏
@@RealNameDre Thanks!
this is phenomenal...I never knew this...wow...what a time to be alive, huh? From WWI planes to drones and jet fighters...what a span during that war!
Now look up Bell's World War Two Helicopter Project in Buffalo,New York. Early Jet Project too.
I have military histories since I could hold a 'grown-up' book, with emphasis on WWII, and have never read anything about this. Once again, Dr. Felton has brought precious ore to the surface. Thank you for all you do, Mark; this old guy loves to learn, and I am learning from the best.
Love how Mark Felton digs out unknown history of which I've never heard of!
I very seldom come across something new to me, despite reading something about WWII every day for the better part of 40 years. I wonder if you don’t hear much about it because it was such a poor call to end development. How many lives could have been spared In not just WWII, but subsequent conflicts if America had continued? Conversely, how many more would have been lost when on the receiving end of the drone strikes? Thank you Dr. Felton, you are the richest source of “new” material for me.
Amazing! Dr. Mark Felton has done it again. I never even knew these drones even existed, let alone that there were attempts at making drones as far back as world war I. It amazes me that in the 12 years of studying world war II history, I still learn something new particularly from Mark Felton. Thank you for your diligent work and research.
Always a treat to see a new perspective on history. Mark, another great video!
I knew absolutely nothing about this UCAV yet i fancy myself a ww2 history buff.
Thankyou! Back in 2016 I met a US veteran in an antiques store while visiting the States and he mentioned how he flew drones during WW2. I was a little sceptical but this proves he was right!
Why is Dr. Felton the only one providing this very current and relevant information? Including detailed films of the actual strikes! Bravo once again Dr. Felton.
A fantastic effort to retailiate against both V1 and Kamikaze.....
Interesting question that comes to mind: Did the Japanese think they were using suicide aircraft against them...? My guess is that they'd be able to determine they were unmanned by analysing wreckage, and eventually get their hands on a wreck that failed to detonate, but for a period they may have thought they were manned; and once a rumour is in place, they tend to linger
In fact they did. Japanese newspapers reported Americans were conducting suicide missions. And this was BEFORE the Japanese began using Kamikaze attacks in early 1945.
It is quite possible that these drone attacks were what gave the Japanese officers who proposed Kamikaze tactics the idea in the first place.
@@PxThucydides That's really interesting. Do you know how that was received in Japan?
But I'm confident in saying it wouldn't have given the Japanese the idea - but it's not impossible that it might have contributed to them really "jumping off that cliff", so-to-speak
@@PxThucydides Even if the idea already existed the fact that the US were using the drones may have given the idea the impetuous Japan needed to go ahead with it.
Well, this is a painful shame to all Japanese kamikaze pilots.
Or, conversely, did the Americans begin to consider the idea of a drone after identifying the idea of suicide attacks? After all, what’s a drone attack? A suicide attack without a pilot
Again...... something I have not heard.
It really is amazing.
Again..Thank You!
I was watching along pretty amazed that there were actually functioning drones in WWII and then Schwinn and Wurlitzer came into the picture. A bicycle company makes sense since the Wright Bros. were bike makers, but a piano company?! I'd love to hear more detail of how Wurlitzer got involved. Great video!
Wurlizter makes more sense to me since they fabricated their products out of wood, and afaik of wood laminates for curved surfaces. A pipe organ has a lot of hidden complex structures made out of wood, I was able to crawl around inside of a couple when a teenager. Schwinn makes some sense if the fuselage had a frame of steel tubing.
@@donjones4719 Interesting! Thanks for the add'l info.
The Mosquito had sub assemblies that could be nade by any furniture making shop in England....
Mechanical control systems, including music box drums or player piano roll systems, are the kind of thing that is very useful for programming something like a robotic aircraft or missile. Here's another one: in the 60s when Project Orion was in development, they needed a system that could eject nuclear explosives out the back of a nuclear pulse-propelled vehicle at a steady rate of 1 per second, so General Atomics contracted Coca Cola to help develop it, since Coke's bottling machines worked in a similar manner.
Very interesting! Thanks for commenting a year later.
I've never heard of drones being used successfully during WWII. I'm amazed that the Navy brass thought that piloted aircraft were still better for risky missions.
I remember there was an episode of the PBS show "History Detectives" about this and even though I consider myself a history buff, this info was a surprise to me. I knew about the German Fritz X that was used to sink the Roma and while I was also aware of the work with radio-controlled bombers that led to the death of JFK's older bother, I had no idea the US was using actual unmanned drones 60 years before I thought we were.
Mark, I am now a student of WWII history. I never imagined there were drones during the war. I simply cannot go to sleep at night without watching one of your educational videos! True story.
Your content never fails to amaze this old WWII buff, thank you Dr Felton.
I am amazed there is so much footage available of this!
Truly remarkable footage and a story that's quite astonishing.
I got to fly the TDR-1 in the '70's.
Great airplane. A pleasure to fly.
We made a trade with the Antique Airplane Association headquarters in Blakesburg Iowa.
They had no idea we would fly it out of there, but we did, and flew it back to Tulsa, Harvey Young airport.
Did you constuct a cockpit or use the radio control?
I knew about several WW2 drones and guided glide bombs on all sides, but never came across this twin-engined one. And I've looked at *a lot* of WW2 books and videos for several decades. An incredible "what if" if these drones had continued operating and improving during 1945.
As soon as you hear that intro music you know its gonna be a good video
I am a German historian and so far I havent found much new stuff here (from my point of view) but this video is astonishing, thanks
I never knew this, thank you for the information Dr. Felton!
Yet again, Dr. Felton, you have shined a light on something I knew nothing about. Well done. And that footage!
I've always considered the TDR-1 to be one of the best looking drones ever made. It's amazing how much and how little has changed.
I never knew my country actually had drones in the Pacific during the war. But I do know of several tests that they tried to make unmanned B-17 flying fortresses. Unfortunately one of the test pilots who died during the test was John F. Kennedy‘s older brother Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. The name of the operation was Operation Aphrodite.
Dr. Felton, you continue to surprise and amaze. Thank you for your amazing research.
This is so much better than the "History Channel".
Thank you Mr Felton for another lovely episode.
At least theres no moans and drones on this channel just quality history
Well done Mark , that is the first time l have seen any footage of this aircraft in use
My father was a Seabee in the Solomons. When he was stationed on Banika Island he said there was a unit testing drones. One day they loaded their equipment on a barge took it out in the channel and shoved it all overboard then left.
They actually attacked and destroyed two Japanese Airfields on an Islands Beaches. Parafrag Bombs as I recall.
I was amazed to learn last year that radio controlled drones were used in WW1.
The ONE, CONSISTENT factor which Dr. Felton has noted from time to time is the short- sightedness of the U.S. military in any given war. We're it not for a love of needless human blood shedding for upper echelon officers, more lives would be saved and the cost of waging a war lessened.
One such case was the 1920s development of the Parafrag Bombs,ignored for almost 20 years and then brought back to be used against Japanese Airfields in the Pacific.
The timing of this video is impeccable.
Another great story from WW2, I particularly like stories like these linked to technology. WW2 generated lots of ideas and a trove of new technological concepts and advancements.
I had never ever heard of this in all my life, same with that footage.
BRAVO MARK!
4:11 Check out the debris splashes on the right of the screen. Wouldn't have thought debris would fly that far. Love your videos and the amazing research you do, thank you for digging up all these fascinating stories, and especially all the old video!
Holy cow…I never would imagine we had this technology back them… but if you really think about it, wasn’t the V2 somewhat a flying drone/ bomb? Think the difference was the V2 would drop anywhere when out of fuel. The drones had someone controlling the flight…still, I’m amazed…
Another great History lesson by our great teacher 👍
I think you mean a V1?
The Germans experimented with television guided radio controlled Hs 293 anti ship missiles (visually guided Hs 293s were used in combat) . The V-1 was more of a cruise missile since it followed a pre set path to a target, and indeed dropped to hit by cutting the engine. The V-2 however was a ballistic missile.
@@johnp8131 didn’t they have 2 types? Not sure on the difference other than the V2 was bigger and more powerful?
@@ba-dam9991 V-1s had wings and were a Rocket Powered Glide Bomb. V-2s were a Missle. The U.S. States built" Super V-2s" that were bigger after the War for Testing at White Sands Missile Range.Look up Operation Paper Clip and Verner Von Braum.
My grandfather worked on this program in the Pacific with the USN as an enlisted man. We didn’t know til we found his name in a book on it.
Dr. Felton never ceases to amaze. Fantastic content.
A quite often overlooked but important part of history. Thank you for the video. 🙂👍
One suspects Dr. Felton might be a Star Wars fan. Fascinating video.
A prime example of a missed opportunity to talk the lead in a new technology.
Just fascinating! I thought television came out after the war. And to think it was successfully utilized in 1944 with drones... I thought I knew a lot about aviation history but this is another first for me. So enjoyable to still be learning something new about foundational technology - thank you, Dr. Felton!
The earliest rudimentary forms of television were invented in the late 1920s. Improvements continually took place and there were television broadcasts from the 1939 New York World's Fair. TV had also reached a pretty good stage of developement in Britain and Germany by 1939 as well but the war put a stop to any further commercial use, at least for the duration.
Amazing. Stories like this is why I love Mark Felton.
What a strange beast! Lots of drones / UAV flying around Pt. Mugu, CA. at the annual air shows and Missile Park over the years
Mr. Felton, you managed to outdo yourself with this video! Thank you.
Will never forget the film camera recording the TV screen! Awesome
Incredible footage to go with an even more incredible story. Thank you.
Thanks for another fascinating masterpiece, Dr. Felton.
Thank you for more forgotten history.
I am astounded. I never read a hint of this program. And I thought I was a well read amateur on WWII. Kudos!
Thanks Dr. Felton!
Very interesting how lack of imagination often cuts short promising technological innovations! It took about another 60 years until military use of drones returned. Thanks Mark for the very interesting documentary!
Remote controlled bombers were tried in the ETO but didn’t work out very well. First I heard of this. Very cool.
Thank you Dr. Felton for another glimpse into a WWII aviation, a subject I thought I had heard everything about!
My father was instrumental in the development of the TDR, and yet I didn't know that until about 20 years ago, though I was familiar with the drone.
4:10 Amazing to see two splashes in the water from exploded debris so close to the camera...!
absolutely fascinating
FANTASTIC!!! Who would have known. Thank you for the research on this episode.
Japanese: Kamakazi!!!!!
Americans: Nice idea…how about we put a robot in it….
ah when i here that music at first you know its going to be good great job
Okay I am going to need more than a 6 minute video on this project, way too fascinating!
mark, this is some excellent historical material that you have brought to light. I've never heard of the americans employing something akin to a wunderwaffen in ww2.
Very informative! Thank you Dr. Felton. 😎
Interesting clip. I don't think that I've heard about this bit of History before. My thanks to Felton and his team.
Dr Felton, again you have shown me and I dare say the majority of us here yet another aspect of WW2 that I had completely no idea about... Amazing. I was truly glued to the screen in a lil bit of shock and awe, as I knew about German guided bombs of WW2 but completely missed this! Thank you.
I've spent countless hours watching most if not all of your videos. This is by far top 3 videos you've released, what an interesting story that I'd imagine is widely unknown. Great job as usual Mark!
Excellent work, Mark!
Awesome info and video Mark, my father was assigned to an Avenger off the USS Franklin in WWII.
Thanks, Mark, for telling us this little-known story of America’s kamikaze drones!
I've been a WWII nut since my teens and engineer as an adult for 30 years, thought of the Fritz-X as the high water point of aviation technology of the time. I'm floored! Always more to learn from this channel. To the military leadership with such little vision I fell little more than contempt. This technology could have spared the life of Joseph Kennedy and many others.