McDonnell TD2D Katydid

The McDonnell TD2D Katydid, company designation Model 31, was a small pulsejet-powered target drone that McDonnell Aircraft built for the United States Navy. The Navy ordered it in March 1941 as the XTD2D-1 for anti-aircraft and aerial gunnery practice. It had a mid-mounted wing, a V-tail and a McDonnell pulsejet mounted on top of the rear fuselage, and it could be launched by catapult from the ground or from racks under Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats. It was stabilised by gyroscope, controlled by radio command, and could be recovered by parachute at the end of a mission. The Katydid entered service in 1942 and stayed in use until the late 1940s, being redesignated KDD-1 and then KDH-1 when the Navy changed its designation system and McDonnell manufacturer code letter in 1946. A KDH-1 is displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum.