AZ Model Plastic Model kit de Havilland DH.82B Queen Bee — 1:72

Manufacturer

AZ Model is a Czech specialist model manufacturer particularly well known for short-run aircraft kits and unusual variants that receive relatively little attention from the larger manufacturers. AZ7497 is part of the company's family of de Havilland Tiger Moth derivatives, alongside several DH.82A and DH.82 variants.

The Queen Bee is an especially unusual subject because, although it was derived from the famous Tiger Moth, it was designed primarily as a pilotless radio-controlled target aircraft rather than as a conventional trainer.
Kit contents

AZ7497 is a 1:72 injection-moulded plastic kit representing the DH.82B Queen Bee.

The kit provides the components needed to construct the characteristic biplane, including:

Injection-moulded plastic fuselage

Upper and lower wings

Wing struts and cabane structure

Tailplane and rudder

Engine and cowling

Propeller

Fixed undercarriage

Cockpit/aircraft interior components appropriate to the Queen Bee

Small external details

Clear components where applicable

Decals

Assembly instructions

The contemporary AZ7497 listing confirms the 1:72 scale and identifies the subject specifically as the DH-82B Queen Bee.
History of the full-size aircraft

The de Havilland DH.82B Queen Bee was developed from the enormously successful DH.82 Tiger Moth trainer. The Tiger Moth itself was one of the most important British training aircraft of the 1930s and Second World War.

The Queen Bee was developed to provide the British armed forces with an inexpensive and reusable radio-controlled target aircraft. The idea was to give anti-aircraft gunners and fighter pilots a realistic moving target without placing a human pilot in danger.

The project was developed by de Havilland during the 1930s, with the Queen Bee entering service before the Second World War.
Design

Externally, the Queen Bee retained much of the Tiger Moth's familiar biplane appearance. It used the same general arrangement of:

Two staggered wings

Open cockpit-style fuselage

Fixed undercarriage

Conventional tail

Radial engine installation

The crucial difference was that the aircraft could be operated without a pilot.

The Queen Bee therefore combined the relatively inexpensive and well-understood Tiger Moth airframe with radio-control equipment. This allowed large numbers of existing training-aircraft manufacturing techniques and components to be used for target-aircraft production.

The aircraft was generally powered by a de Havilland Gipsy Major engine, although details varied among production aircraft and related target-aircraft configurations.
Radio-controlled target aircraft

The Queen Bee is historically significant because it was one of the early successful examples of a practical radio-controlled unmanned aircraft.

During the 1930s, radio-control technology was still developing. The Queen Bee demonstrated that an aircraft could be flown remotely with sufficient reliability to serve as a genuine military training target.

The aircraft could be flown on predetermined courses or manoeuvred remotely, allowing anti-aircraft crews to practise against an actual airborne target.

Its use also helped establish concepts that would become increasingly important during the Second World War: remotely controlled aircraft, unmanned targets and eventually guided weapons.
Name and naval connection

The name “Queen Bee” is often associated with the Royal Navy's development and use of remotely controlled target aircraft. The aircraft was used extensively for anti-aircraft gunnery training, particularly to train crews against targets that behaved more realistically than conventional sleeves or towed targets.

The Queen Bee could operate repeatedly, making it a practical training system rather than a disposable target.

It was also used by the Royal Air Force, giving both services experience in operating and training against remotely controlled aircraft.
Relationship with the Tiger Moth

Although the Queen Bee looked very similar to the Tiger Moth, it should not simply be considered a standard Tiger Moth without a pilot.

The DH.82B incorporated modifications necessary for remote operation, including the equipment required to control the aircraft from the ground. The aircraft therefore occupies an interesting place in aviation history between conventional piloted aircraft and later purpose-built unmanned aerial vehicles.

The underlying Tiger Moth design was particularly well suited to this role because it was:

Simple

Relatively inexpensive

Stable

Easy to maintain

Available in large numbers

Capable of carrying the additional radio-control equipment

Second World War service

When the Second World War began in 1939, the Queen Bee's target role became increasingly important. Britain's rapidly expanding anti-aircraft defences needed extensive training, and realistic airborne targets were essential.

The aircraft was used to train anti-aircraft gunners and fighter crews, helping them practise tracking and engaging moving aircraft without risking operational pilots.

The Queen Bee therefore contributed to Britain's wider air-defence training system even though it was not a combat aircraft.

Its importance is easy to overlook because no Queen Bee squadron participated in conventional air combat, but the aircraft represented an important step in the development of unmanned aviation.
Historical importance

The DH.82B Queen Bee is particularly noteworthy as one of the earliest aircraft to demonstrate that radio-controlled flight could be practical on an operational scale.

Modern UAVs are vastly more sophisticated, but the basic concept—an aircraft operating without a pilot aboard and controlled remotely—was already being demonstrated by aircraft such as the Queen Bee during the 1930s.

For a model collection, it consequently represents both the Tiger Moth family and an early chapter in the history of unmanned aviation.