Wednesday, October 3, 2012

F9F-2KD Regulus Controller Trainer

A Work In Progress

This airplane was used to train Regulus missile controllers. It was not a true drone since a pilot was required for takeoff and landing.
National Archives 80-GK- 23622

National Archives 80-GK-23623

Assigned to GMGRU-1. Pictures reportedly taken 29 June 1958 at Point Mugu.

3 comments:

  1. Great photos! On the original photos, is it possible to see what colors the wing & nose wheel wells are painted? Would that hold true for the inside door colors?

    Larry Engesath

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  2. It looks like the wells and interior of the landing gear doors are painted the same color as the exterior surface in that area.

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  3. I have a question: there are 2 types of modified "Panthers": drones and drone directors. I've seen many photos where the antennae are positioned under the wings, just outside of the wheel wells, e.g. BuNo 126265, PMR or BuNo 126279 35-ZZ, GMGRU-1. The other type (as on the photos above) has the antennae in the nose section (top and bottom), e.g. BuNo 123071, 34-ZZ, GMGRU-1 resp. the a/c above . Are all of them drone directors or are some manned drones?

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