Culver Aircraft Corporation During World War Two
Wichita, KS
1939-1946

This page added 3-20-2025.

The Culver Aircraft Corporation originally began in Columbus, OH as the Dart Manufacturing Company.  Al Mooney, who had designed the Monosport G and sold the rights to the Lambert Aircraft Corporation, wanted the rights to the aircraft back.  Lambert Aircraft had gone out of business and Mr. Mooney succeeded in regaining his rights to the Monosport G with the financial backing of businessman Knight K. Culver.  The new company became the Culver Aircraft Company.  The company then moved to Wichita, KS and began production of the Culver LFA and LCA models.  With the onset of World War Two, Culver modified its Model LFA into target drones for use as anti-aircraft targets.  Culver's design allowed the aircraft to be operated and flown like a real aircraft or without a pilot to be controlled by radio from a mother ship.  This was the Culver Aircraft Corporation's contribution to helping to win World War Two.

Unfortunately, the aviation business environment was not conducive for the marketing of Culver's post-war products, and it went out of business in 1946.

Culver Aircraft Corporation World War Two Products:  Table 1 shows that the company had $12,528,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  Table 3 shows that the company produced 2,913 aircraft that were used as radio controlled target drones.

Contract 535-AC-40802 valued at $9,315,000 was issued for 2,510 PQ-14 series aerial targets.  The per unit cost of a PQ-14 drone was $3,711.  It is unknown whether this included the cost of the engine which may well have been Government Furnished Equipment. (GFE).  The remote control radio equipment for the aircraft was GFE. 

This is a portion of Wheeler Army on Oahu, Hawaii during World War Two.  This particular area was home to the 17th Tow Target Squadron.  Its mission was to pull target sleeves behind its assigned aircraft for both aircraft and anti-aircraft crews to practice shooting at. 

The Army Air Force had many aircraft that were not fit for combat duty once World War Two began.  One of those types was the Douglas B-18 Bolo.  Two of them can be seen in the lower left of the photo.  While no longer usable in combat, the B-18 was recycled into a target towing aircraft.  At the top of the photo are three recycled Martin B-26 Marauders that were also used for target towing. 

In the center of the photo are at least nine Culver PQ-8 target drones. 

This photo shows the Culver PQ-8s from the ground with two Cessna UC-78 mother ships.  These were used to contract the PS-8s once they were in the air.  For takeoff and landings, a ground controller was required. 

Once in the air with the UC-78 mother ships at a safe distance away from the practice area, the PQ-8s were shot at by 90mm anti-aircraft guns.  The Culver produced drones of all types were utilized for just this purpose.  Practice was required for the gunners to become proficient in their task.  Note that the soldiers are living in tents. 

The Culver PQ-8:

World War Two target drones were all painted red for easy identification. 

This and the next two photos are ground shots of the PQ-8s being maintained at Wheeler Field.

This photo shows two of the PW-8s flying in formation with a B-24 over Oahu.  Note that the turrets have been removed from the B-24.

The artist's rendering of the PQ-8 shows what appears to be a radio control antenna that runs the length of the wing.

This image shows the pilot's controls in the left side of the cockpit.

This view shows the radio control equipment in the right side of the cockpit.

The Culver PQ-14B:  Sometimes I am just lucky.  The next series of photos of the Culver PW-14 on floor display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Riverside, OH were taken on 2-11-2023 and on 6-17-2023.  When I took the photos, I did not have any plans for doing a page on Culver.  On 6-25-2024 the museum placed the PQ-14 in storage to make room for new displays going into the area where the drone was located.

It was not possible to obtain a full wingspan photo of the PQ-14 due to the proximity of other aircraft and displays.  Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

This photo taken in November 2013 shows that the Culver PQ-14B was one of the many aircraft displays hanging from the ceiling of the museum.  It is unknown when the drone was moved to floor display.  Author's photo.

This photo from the National Museum of the United States Air Force shows the PQ-18 before it was originally moved into the museum. 

This PQ-14 is awaiting restoration at the Aviation Unmanned Vehicle Museum in Caddo Mills, TX.  Photo courtesy of  Tom Fey.

XPQ-15:  The XPQ-15 was the intended next Culver version of the company's product line of target drones.  The photo below shows that it was a more streamlined aircraft.  Due to the end of the war, it never went into production.