The History of Predator Drones: From One Man's Basement to the War on Terror

The History of Predator Drones: From One Man's Basement to the War on Terror

In 1980, Abraham Karem, an engineer who had emigrated from Israel, retreated into his three-car garage in Hacienda Heights outside Los Angeles and, to the bemusement of his tolerant wife, began to build an aircraft.
The work eventually spilled into the guest room, and when Karem finished more than a year later, he wheeled into his driveway an odd, cigar-shaped craft that was destined to change the way the United States wages war.
The Albatross, as it was called, was transported to the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, where it demonstrated the ability to stay aloft safely for up to 56 hours — a very, very long time in what was then the crash-prone world of drones.

This is what happens when Americans have disposable income and free time. We play with tools and materials. We think outside the box. We build a different box and think outside that one. We produce things that make life better or safer. Americans are innovators and inventors. Socialist engineering and marxist thinking destroys that edge.