Unmanned Aviation: A Brief History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles










| UAV CHARACTERISTICS AND PERFORMANCE TABLE | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAV Engine(s) | No. Built | First Flight | Span | Length | Weights (lb) | Speed (kt) | Ceiling (ft) | Endurance (h) | ||
| Gross | Payload | Empty | ||||||||
| Dayton Wright Liberty Eagle 1 37 hp DePalma Recip | 36 | 1918 | 15 ?0 ?? | 12 ?6 ?? | 530 | 180 |
| 100 | 12,000 | 1 |
| Sperry M-1/MAT Messenger 1 60 hp Lawrence L-4 Radial | 42 | 1920 | 20 ?0 ?? | 17 ?9 ?? | 862 | 150 | 623 | 80 |
| <2 |
| Northrop SD-1 Falconer Observer 1 72 hp McCulloch 0-100-2 Recip | 1445 | 1955 | 13 ?5 ?? | 13 ?5 ?? | 466 | 75 | 354 | 160 | 15,000 | 0.6 |
| Gyrodyne QH-50C DASH 1 300 hp Boeing T50 Turboshaft | 756 | 1960 | 20 ?0 ?? | 12 ?11 ?? | 2281 | 866 | 1100 | 80 | 16,200 | 3.9 |
| Lockheed GTD-21B 1 12,000 lbst Marquardt RJ43 Ramjet | 38 | 1966 | 19 ?0 ?? | 43 ?2 ?? | 20,000 |
| 11,200 | M3.35 | 90,000+ | 2 |
| AeroVironment Helios 14 2 hp Electric Motors | 1 | 1999 | 247 ?0 ?? | 12 ?0 ?? | 2,048 | 726 | 1,322 | 22 140 | 100,000 | 17+ |
| Insitu Group Aerosonde 1 1 hp Enya R120 Recip | 50 | 1995 | 9 ?6 ?? | 6 ?2 ?? | 29.5 | 1 | 18 | 56 | 14,800 | 32 |
| Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk 1 7,600 lbst Allison AE3007H Turbofan | 6 [*] | 1998 | 116 ?2 ?? | 44 ?5 ?? | 25,600 | 1,960 | 8,530 | 345 | 66,000 | 32 |
| Teledyne Ryan AQM-34L 1 1,920 lbst Teledyne CAE J69 Turbojet | 250+ | 1968 | 13 ? | 29 ?? |