Maynard Hill has died

[seacue]

Mr Hill was the force behind the creation of the first model aircraft (less than 5 kg / 11 pounds) to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. It employed an on-board autopilot and navigation system.
Model airplane history-maker Maynard Hill dies at the age of 85 - The Washington Post (http://tinyurl.com/3eo9zbf)

The US Navy beat his team by a few months, but it was a big drone, not tiny model.

Edited to add: Maynard Hill held amateur radio callsign W3FQF.

seacue

[BEagle]

Maynard Hill's achievements are certainly legendary! RIP.

It employed an on-board autopilot and navigation system.


No doubt this piece of information would cause the Olympic Airspace enforcers to have a mild coronary....:uhoh:

[seacue]

More on Hill and the transatlantic flight.
Maynard Hill piloted a radio-controlled model airplane across the Atlantic Ocean - Progressive Engineer Magazine (http://www.progressiveengineer.com/profiles/maynardHill.htm)

Also:
JHU Applied Physics Lab had a much-earlier notable in radio-controlled model aircraft, Walter Good. Walter and his twin brother flew radio-controlled models as early as 1937. Walter was one of the first employee of APL (1942) and rose to a rather high position there.

[Brian Abraham]

flew radio-controlled models as early as 1937When was the first radio controlled aircraft? Radio controlled Tiger Moths, designated "Queen Bee", were first built in 1935, and some 400 entered service.

[Mechta]

When was the first radio controlled aircraft?Archibald Low's 'Aerial Target'* of 1916 must surely be one of the first:

http://shop.keypublishing.com/acatalog/AERIALTARGET_80.jpg
This one is a model of the original

Archibald Low - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Low)

Maynard Hill's tenacity with the transatlantic crossing attempts gains my highest admiration. Each successive trip to Newfoundland and wait for the right weather was a trial of perseverance.


*'Aerial Target' was a cover name to disguise its true purpose.

[seacue]

Mr Abraham,

Isn't that the same obit I linked in the first message in this thread?

seacue

[Brian Abraham]

You are so right!!! :{