JFK older brother Joe killed in remote control plane during WWII
https://io9.gizmodo.com/5985733/the-secret-drone-mission-that-killed-joseph-kennedy-jr
Kennedy was the eldest of nine siblings, and it was assumed he’d eventually take up the family business. However, in 1942 he dropped out of law school to join the U.S. Navy, hoping to become a pilot. In 1943 and 1944 he flew numerous missions in a PB4Y-1 Liberator (the Navy’s designation for the B-24 Liberator), completing two tours of duty. Eligible for stateside duty at that point, he instead volunteered for a secret and incredibly dangerous mission: operating some of the first military drone aircraft.
Drones had been used in World War I, but they were essentially precursors to cruise missiles. They were sent on their way with a target in mind, but there was little or no remote control exerted once the flight began.
Operation Aphrodite was different. The goal was to take B-17 and B-24 bombers that were no longer fit for regular duty, strip out all unnecessary equipment, and load them with several tons of Torpex explosives. The cockpit was fitted with a radio control system and a pair of cameras, one showing the gauges, one the ground below and ahead. Painted yellow or white, the planes would fly at 2,000 feet, controlled by operators in other planes at 20,000 feet. It was hoped that these massive flying bombs could crack the German submarine pens and rocket launch sites that traditional strategic bombing runs were having trouble hitting.
The United States Navy is testing a new system called the ATARI onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) that allows the Landing Signals Officer (LSO) to take control of an aircraft on approach to the carrier. The Navy has been working on developing the aircraft terminal approach remote inceptor (ATARI), but the system was only tested at sea for the first time this March. Conditions at sea were challenging to say the least.
“I was really impressed with LSO’s ability get me to touch down,” VX-23 test pilot Lt. John Marino, the first naval aviator to land using ATARI, said. “The conditions were really varsity, and it was really impressive the system worked the way it did. On a calm day, it would have been a little bit boring, but this was definitely more challenging.”
Qx’s understanding from his Navy buddies was that the auto-landing feature—by computer control—was VERY disconcerting to pilots because it matched the ship’s moving with the waves soooo precisely and immediately.