In the early 1970s, two Ryan Model 147G reconnaissance drones were requisitioned from the Air Force Museum by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory at WPAFB to investigate high maneuverability flight and discover whether a high performance remotely piloted aircraft could perform some of the same missions as crewed aircraft.
The 147G was particularly suited for this since it had an extended nose section for equipment, a more powerful engine, and a larger wing than previous FireBee variants.
On its sixth mission, the aircraft refused to accept ground commands and self-recovered in the mountains north of Los Angeles with minor damage.
The flight engineer controlled video display, on-board system operation, and recovery commands.
At the conclusion of the program, the aircraft was donated to the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and became a static display at the entrance to Eagle Range.
Maj. Holm later distinguished himself on the high performance aircraft racing circuit as the pilot of the P-51 "Dago Red" in which he won the world Unlimited championship.