Three earlier Fairey Queens, converted from Fairey IIIF-family machines, provided reliable experimental targets and helped mature the control system. Their long range demonstrated technical capability, but each airframe weighed several times as much as a Tiger Moth and cost more than a conventional torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance aircraft. A large group would demand full fleet-carrier support, while the aircraft could not be boxed into the compact storage space useful for expendable systems. Those constraints pushed the programme toward the much smaller Tiger Moth airframe.
Chapter · 18:25-21:05
The Fairey Queens that preceded the Queen Bee
Three radio-controlled Fairey aircraft proved the concept before the Queen Bee but were too large and costly for mass target-drone service.