America's Secret WW2 Combat Drone That Bombed The Japanese | The TDR-1
Rex's Hanger
I'm watching this video and it all seems perfectly fine until he gets to the part about the TV. Wait a minute, TV cameras in remotely piloted drones? Yeah, okay, maybe in the 1950's, but in WW2? I think you're pulling my leg. But the video tells a pretty compelling tale. Anyway, the wormhole opened and I fell in.
WWII Military Television Development (Part 1)
InfoAge Science & History Museums
This video is kind of long. He does have a good line at 55 second mark:
'my actual boss gave me a magazine that had an article about television news, during world war two, to guide missiles. I'm saying guide missiles? I thought that was a black hole in time where television came out in 1939, the World's Fair, was introduced and then something it appeared again in the late 40s with, you know, Howdy Doody, you know how to do commercial television.'
There are also several video clips from WW2 shown in line with the video. They are of varying interest. Here they are spreadsheetified:
I could not format the time the way I wanted. If there were no hours involved, I just wanted to start with the minutes, but Google won't allow it. You can dispense with the leading number if it is zero, but you have to keep the leading colon. Stupid computer. Don't you know nuthin' about formatting time?
I like the hot rod they build to launch the GM Bug in the first clip. 100 MPH in 1500 feet. That's pretty good even today. Dual Cadillac engines, each one connected to a 'fluid flywheel'. In 1943.
Anyway, I think the deal was that we had a bunch of eggheads who were able to build these drones during WW2, but they didn't have enough clout to support a public relations department. I also suspect there just wasn't enough electrical engineering talent to go around. The mass of industry was still mechanical. The impetus of war probably enlarged the pool of engineering talent by tenfold before the war was over. More opportunities for more people meant more electrical engineers to work on screwball ideas like drones with TV cameras.
Here's some pics of the camera:
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| Block Camera - Nowak Archive |
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| World War Two Airborne TV Camera |
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| Courtesy of Richard Diehl |
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| Airborne Television Camera CRV-59AAE |
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