Boeing YQM-94

YQM-94 B-Gull Compass Cope B
Boeing YQM-94A Compass Cope B at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Role	Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
Manufacturer	Boeing
First flight	28 July 1973
Status	Canceled
Primary user	United States Air Force

The Boeing YQM-94 B-Gull (also called Compass Cope B) was a developmental aerial reconnaissance drone developed by Boeing. It could take off and land from a runway like a manned aircraft, and operate at high altitudes for up to 24 hours to perform aerial surveillance, communications relay, or atmospheric sampling.

Compass Cope was a program initiated by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1971 to develop an upgraded reconnaissance drone that could take off and land from a runway like a manned aircraft, and operate at high altitudes for up to 24 hours to perform surveillance, communications relay, or atmospheric sampling. Two aircraft, the Boeing YQM-94 Compass Cope B, and the Ryan Aeronautical YQM-98A Compass Cope R participated in the program.

Boeing was originally selected as a sole source for the Compass Cope program, with the USAF awarding the company a contract for two YQM-94A (later YGQM-94A) demonstrator vehicles in 1971. However, Ryan then pitched an alternative, and the next year the USAF awarded Ryan a contract for two YQM-98A (later YGQM-98A) demonstrators as well.

The Boeing YQM-94A is a cantilever shoulder-wing monoplane, basically a jet-powered sailplane, with long straight wings, a twin fin tail, retractable tricycle landing gear, and a turbojet housed in a pod on its back. The engine was a General Electric YJ97-GE-100 providing 5,270 lb (2,390 kg) thrust. The YQM-94A was constructed using aluminium and fiberglass. The lower half of the circular-section fuselage was glass-fibre honeycomb, the same material used for radomes. The wings of the YQM-94A were constructed of aluminium-skinned honeycomb with a fiberglass core which insulated the fuel tanks from the cold encountered at the altitudes it was flown.

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