JAMESTOWN, NY - It seems like drones are everywhere, a great piece of modern technology right? But what if I told you that unmanned, remote-controlled warplanes were being built 75 years ago, right here in Western New York?
Karen Livesy and Sam Genco are working on a presentation on the subject here at the Fenton History Center in Jamestown. It was a story that started to piece together in part because of a set of films Sam ran across years ago. "I just bought them on a whim at an auction in Westfield N.Y.," Genco said. The labels on the canisters read Official US Navy Motion Picture film. As he fed the film into the 16 millimeter projector, he was careful to protect the history it contains. He hit play and that history came to life. On the screen, a pilotless plane, images of the remote controls, and the R-C-A television camera that was mounted in the nose. It carried bombs that would detonate on impact. The landing gear used for takeoff could be jettisoned before it reached its target..
Karen knew immediately what it was. "He was telling me about it and the strange landing gear, and I said wait a minute! " As the archivist at Jamestown's Fenton History Center, she had done plenty of research into the program. The plane was developed by the Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corporation of California.
"I couldn't believe it, because I had this film in my possession for a long time," Genco said. "I always thought it was an interesting film, but I had no idea it had any significance to Jamestown's history."
The planes were made of plywood and metal tubing, some of the wooden parts manufactured by Wurlitzer and the metal tubing made by Schwinn bicycles. Because of the furniture building and wood-working expertise here in Jamestown, they were assembled in a facility right next to the airfield, known as American Aviation Corporation at the time. At the height of production, 800 people were working there.
"All sworn to secrecy of course." Genco said.
"Everybody knew they were building planes, that was not a secret, the secret was what kind of plane," Livesy adds. She explains they were the American response to the kamikaze.
TDR-1s were deployed to the South Pacific with the Special Air Task Force in 1944 and destroyed a number of Japanese fixed targets. Of the 50 deployed drones, 37 reached their target areas and 21 hit their designated targets. Despite the relative success, the U. S. Navy canceled the project in the fall of 1944.
If you have American Aviation Corporation information or photographs that you would like to share with the Fenton History Center, please contact the staff at 664-6256.