Interstate TDR-1-- Part 3: Why DeKalb Was Selected for the Drones

In September 1942, the U.S. Navy selected DeKalb, Illinois, to be the site for the manufacture of the DR-1 drones and they were to be built at an airport on the city's east side.  The site was selected because there was already an airport there with an airfield and a large hangar which already had a fence around it and was guarded around the clock (as a war measure).

Plus, the Wurlitzer Company, maker of pianos, was known for its expertise with wooden products and was already located in DeKalb.

So the parts were made at the Wurlitzer plant, then assembled by Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corporation, based in El Segundo, California, at the airport.

About 200 drones were built and tested at the DeKalb airport and then boxed up and shipped to the South Pacific where they were assembled and used against the enemy after some more testing to see their effectiveness.

Top Secret DeKalb.  --GreGen

DeKalb's "Secret Airplane"-- Part 4: "History Detectives" To Air Segment About It

When the project was completed.  there was a special ceremony held at the Egyptian Theatre in downtown DeKalb, Illinois,  where the workers were presented with the Army-Navy "E" for Excellence Award.  This was a major award given to special industries that had done an especially good job.

Roger Keys also said the TDR-1 drone built in DeKalb would be  the subject of a future episode of PBS' "History Detectives," tentatively scheduled to air July 17, 2011.

When he was making a presentation on the project in the fall at  the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport, someone in the audience had said he had found  a wooden propeller many years ago on a grass airstrip near Virgil, Illinois.  The man still had it and wanted to know if it might possibly have belonged to a drone.

The man later contacted the "History Detectives" producers  and they took an interest in researching the mystery.  Keys assisted them with photos and other material he has in his collection.

He would be interested in finding any person who worked at the plant or others interested in the plane so he can organize a special showing of the the episode in DeKalb.

I Never Knew About This Drone Before This.  --GreGen

DeKalb's "Secret Airplane"-- Part 3: Pilot and Radio-Controlled

The plane was designed with a fully operational cockpit so a pilot could fly 700 miles in it before landing and turning it into a remote control system.. A control plane flying up to six miles away, transmitted radio signals to guide the flight, including its altitude and speed.

The main component which made it a top secret  was a television camera mounted in the nose of the plane behind a glass shield.  The crew in the mother ship would watch the picture being transmitted from the nose of the plane and use it to pinpoint a target on the ground or even an enemy ship.

Over the years, Roger Keys has talked to many Wurlitzer workers and found out that none of them knew what it was doing in the Pacific.  He says:  "I like to see credit given to those on the home front here in DeKalb."

--GreGen

DeKalb's "Secret Airplane"-- Part 2: A Joint Operation Between Wurlitzer and Interstate

The Wurlitzer plant made the parts of the mostly wooden plane/drone while Interstate workers in the factory next door put the aircraft together.  Today, that building is owned by General Electric (as of 2011).  You can still see the large hangar doors today from Peace Road.

Since the project was classified top secret, the 1,400 employees who worked on it believed they were producing a trainer plane or target drone.  They did not know that the planes were designed to carry a 2000-pound bomb to its target while being remotely controlled by a nearby mother plane.

According to Roger Keys, "It was actually known as the first guided missile ever built.  During a two-year period, there were 189 of these planes/drones built in DeKalb.

They were delivered to a remote island base in the South Pacific where they were readied for missions against Japanese targets.  Kind of like a kamikaze with out a live human guidance system.  I saw a picture of an escort aircraft carrier with its deck covered in the drones as they was on their way to be delivered.

--GreGen

DeKalb's "Secret Airplane"-- Part 1: For the U.S. Navy, the Interstate TDR-1 Drone

Continued from my December 21, 2018, post.

From the May 24, 2011, DeKalb County Life "DeKalb had role in first guided missile" by Barry Schrader.

Roger Keys bought a model U.S. WW II plane at a garage sale in Waterman, Illinois, back about thirty years ago for $5.  But, he did not recognize what kind of plane it was, not could anyone else he asked.

Finally, someone who had worked at the Wurlitzer plant in DeKalb during the war, told him what he had bought and that they had built it for the U.S. Navy.   He spent the next decade gathering all he could on this strange plane.

In 1942, Wurlitzer signed a contract with the Navy to convert its peacetime piano factory in DeKalb, Illinois, into an aircraft production center.  They were to work with Interstate Aircraft based in Segundo, California, in the project.  It took just seven months for Wurlitzer to retool its plant and it went into the airplane business.

They were to build the Interstate TDR-1 drone plane.

Drones This far Back?  I Thought They Were of More Recent Vintage.  --GreGen

The Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. in DeKalb Goes to War-- Part 3: Today's Taylor Municipal Airport

The assault drone had a camera in its nose behind the glass shield.    The operator of the drone would use a telephone to navigate it.  This made the drone capable of flying pilotless.    The drone would be controlled by a mother plane almost seven miles away.

The drones were described as looking something like a German Stuka Dive Bomber.  During test flights in DeKalb, authorities would sometimes receive calls of a German bomber in the skies over Illinois.

The TRD-1s were sent to the Pacific Theater and used to attack Japanese bases.

The U.S. public did not learn about DeKalb's Wurlitzer Company's involvement in the drone experiment until 1960 when it was declassified.  During the two-year span they were made in DeKalb, some 200 were produced.

Wurlitzer had had the needed space to build, store and test these new weapons.  Surrounding land and buildings were bought to make a hangar and airfield.  This airfield would eventually become  the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport of today.

--GreGen

The Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. in WW II-- Part 2

From the Weebly.com  The TDR-1 Drone by Katie Steimel.

Roger Keys:  "Wurlitzer had the personnel and the know how.  They had several patents on unique assembly processes.  And, when they were approached to make the TDR-1, they were extremely enthusiastic about it.  In the span of about six months, they completely converted all their tooling to build them."  Rogat Keys

In 1942, the Navy approached Wurlitzer to start making musical instruments and juke boxes and to start making the first-ever drone, or guided missile.  They worked closely with the Intestate Aircraft Co. on this project.

This was so top-secret, that even the Wurlitzer workers did not know what they were making.  The general belief among them was that they were making training or target planes.

--GreGen

The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company in the War-- Part 1: Bomb Fuses and Drones

In my last post, the Rudolph Wurlitzer factory in DeKalb, Illinois, was looking for help to make aircraft during the war.  Here is some more information about the company in the war.

During World War II, the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company halted production of musical instruments.  The company's defense  production efforts  were recognized in 1943 and 1944  when its North Tonawanda and DeKalb plants received the Army-Navy "E"  Award.

In 1946, peacetime production resumed and the Wurlitzer Company  introduced two new instruments:  the electric organ (1947) and electric piano (1954).

The North Tonawanda, New York, plant stopped producing organs in 1942 and started making bomb proximity fuses.

The DeKalb factory had been retooled and was where the Interstate TDR was made.  This was an early drone plane used during WW II.  I will do do some more research on the TDR Interstate.  I always thought drones were a fairly new thing, but evidently not according to this.

--GreGen

Help Wanted: Making Airplanes in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1945

From the April 15, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"PART TIME AND FULL TIME WORKERS WANTED IMMEDIATELY:

"Help an urgent war need and help yourself!  Whether or not you have ever had factory experience makes no difference.

"Here's your opportunity to to participate in the thrills of building aircraft and its components.  Even if you can just spend 4-5 fours a day let us have your name.

"Every man hour will help us keep ahead  of schedule.

"The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company."

I certainly was not aware of airplanes of any shape being made in DeKalb County during the war.

--GreGen