Walden's Radio-controlled Aerial Torpedo 1915.

[klem]

In 1915 Dr. Henry W. Walden, a dentist and inventor from Massachusetts, had the idea of an aerial torpedo that could be controlled and directed by the pilot once launched. This model of an aerial torpedo was made for a patent application. The projectile was to be launched from the air against ground targets and controlled by radio signals from the parent aircraft. The pilot was to visually observe the torpedo and activate the controls by radio signals. These signals activated servo motors that moved the torpedo's steering fins. Although the patent was granted, it never became official; Walden never paid the rights, having received no support from the U.S. government. In 1957, Dr. Walden donated the model of his torpedo to the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum, but it has never been exhibited.

 

[Jemiba]

Very interesting find indeed ! Just the claim about the "first radio-controlled missile" perhaps could be
overstated, though this thing here actually looks better, than the gliders designed and built by Wilhelm
von Siemens ( https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/ww1-aircraft-weapons-general.32676/post-399216 ).
But Siemens actually was testing flying hardware in 1915, and IIRC, first proposals were made as early, as 1912,
though still as a weapon against land based targets.

 

[Dilandu]

Quite interesting, advanced - looking device! Great find!

 

[klem]

Very interesting find indeed ! Just the claim about the "first radio-controlled missile" perhaps could be
overstated, though this thing here actually looks better, than the gliders designed and built by Wilhelm
von Siemens ( https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/ww1-aircraft-weapons-general.32676/post-399216 ).
But Siemens actually was testing flying hardware in 1915, and IIRC, first proposals were made as early, as 1912,
though still as a weapon against land based targets.

Thanks Jemiba for the reply. Wilhelm von Siemens or the Siemens-Schuckert torpedo gleiters, is also a good topic except that I found it scattered in photos on several threads. Also in my opinion the topic has become a game of swinging photos here and there, and in the end it has been diluted to the point of losing its interest and its own thread on the forum so that members who wish to do so, can benefit from the information on the same page

 

[Hafidz Rahman]

Hi!

Nice article about Walden's aerial torpedo:

https://gizmodo.com/the-first-drones-used-in-world-war-i-453365075/amp

 

[klem]

Hi!

Nice article about Walden's aerial torpedo:

https://gizmodo.com/the-first-drones-used-in-world-war-i-453365075/amp

Thanks for the link dear member Hafidz, but you know all the websites I consulted on the net, relate the same information.