During the early 1930s, the British Aircraft Company of Maidstone, Kent built a series of gliders culminating in the B.A.C.

The firm was then taken over by Robert Kronfeld who modified the second Planette with a streamlined pylon, and renamed the design the Drone.

It would fly only with the latter and was fitted with extra wheels at the nose and wing tips in order to ameliorate the consequences of inexperienced piloting.

Aircraft fitted with the 23 hp (17 kW) Douglas Sprite engine became known as the Kronfeld Super Drone.

A version with a 30 hp (22 kW) water-cooled Carden-Ford converted car engine and folding wings was known as the Drone de Luxe.

Col. the Master of Sempill startled the aviation world in April 1936, when he flew Drone G-ADPJ from Croydon Airport to Berlin in 11 hours flying time on 14 gallons of petrol.