Army Signal Corps in 1918, near the end of World War I. The first flight on October 2, 1918 was a failure: the plane climbed too steeply after takeoff, stalled and crashed. Subsequent flights were successful, and the aircraft was demonstrated to Army personnel at Dayton. "The Kettering Bug had 2 successes on 6 attempts at Dayton, 1 of 4 at Amityville, and 4 of 14 at Carlstrom." Despite some successes during initial testing, the "Bug" was never used in combat. Officials worried about their reliability when carrying explosives over Allied troops. By the time the War ended about 45 Bugs had been produced. The aircraft and its technology remained a secret until World War II. During the 1920s, what had become the U.S. Army Air Service continued to experiment with the aircraft until funding was withdrawn. From April 1917 to March 1920 the US Government spent about $275,000 ($ in ) on the Kettering Bug. Surviving aircraft A full-size reproduction of a Bug is on permanent display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. It was constructed by Museum staff members, and went on display in 1964. Specifications (Bug) See also British unmanned aerial vehicles of World War I Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane RAE Larynx Siemens torpedo glider V-1 flying bomb References External links Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Space Flight: Kettering Bug Monash University information Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Cruise missiles of the United States Dayton-Wright aircraft 1910s United States experimental aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Wright brothers History of Dayton, Ohio Bug, Kettering Aircraft first flown in 1918