Aircraft Radio Corporation (ARC) – not to be confused with Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC) – was a principal pioneer and major manufacturer of avionics for military and commercial aircraft, and later general aviation (light) aircraft, from the 1920s to the 1950s—subsequently acquired and rebranded by a succession of other companies, each of whom changed the official name, of the enterprise, while initially continuing ARC's primary function, staffing, facilities and product focus.
Consequently, many in the aviation industry—including many within its current and former parent companies—have unofficially referred to ARC, by its original name, as a continuing specific entity, regardless of its official names or owners at any point in time."Aircraft Radio Corporation (division of the Cessna Aircraft Co.), Petitioner, v. National Labor Relations Board, Respondent, 519 F.2d 590 (3d Cir. 1975)," U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Argued June 26, 1975. Decided July 24, 1975, retrieved November 6, 2016
History Origins ARC originated in 1924 in Boonton, New Jersey—a rural setting within sight of New York City—as the aircraft radio division of Radio Frequency Laboratories (RFL), which had started in 1922, in Boonton, as a radio-technology research organization, developing and holding numerous patents and employing such radio pioneers as Edward Weston, Lewis M. Hull and Stuart Ballantine. RFL developed technologies, but did not manufacture products. However, when it developed an aviation-radio division, in 1924, the division, ARC, soon outgrew its parent company, with the success of its aviation radios developed and manufactured in Boonton. Helfrick, Albert (former ARC employee), "Aircraft Radio Corporation and Their Role in the Development of Avionics", presentation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL Freeman, et al., "Aircraft Radio Corporation Airfield, Boonton, NJ,", Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields website
Independence By 1927, Aircraft Radio Corporation (ARC) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Radio Frequency Laboratories, and was spun off as a separate company, producing navigation and communications radios for military, commercial and general aviation. ARC radios were considered mainstream, basic radios in their market segment, and were widely used. An airport was developed to accommodate the needs of the booming enterprise, on 116 acres near town.Development of Aircraft Radio Receivers, booklet, 1929, Aircraft Radio Corporation, Boonton, NJ
In early 1929, an engineering conference at the Flying Field drew many people from the electronic instruments industry to celebrate the new ARC facility's opening and dedication, including a laboratory in Boonton, and a hangar at the Flying Field.
First "blind" flight Pioneer aviator Jimmy Doolittle kept his plane at the ARC hangar, and teamed with ARC to accomplish the world's first "blind" landing – landing an airplane solely by reference to instruments, the first milestone in developing today's all-weather instrument flight. ARC developed the radio-beam and onboard radio receiver navigation equipment essential to the flight, the first radio instrument landing system.
The system they developed led to the creation of their "Model B"—an early radio navigation system for the airlines.
Military success A history of U.S. Navy radio research and development describes how little ARC beat out competitors far larger in the electronics world: The Bureau of Engineering decided to explore the frequency range 3000 to 4000 kHz for short-range fighter and spotting aircraft communication and sponsored NRL's [Naval Research Laboratory's] effort to provide suitable equipment (1926). The first such procured were the models MD (General Electric) and ME (Westinghouse) (1927-1929). These were followed by the [ARC] GF transmitter (5000 to 8000 kHz), accompanied by the [ARC] Model RU receiver. (1931-1933). The Model GF/RU equipment was the first to provide acceptable two-way, aircraft voice communication, feasible because of the availability of effective ignition-system shielding. The Model GF/RU (Aircraft Radio Corporation) was procured in large numbers and used extensively, and continued in use through World War II.Gebhard, Louis A. "Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory," Report #NRL 8300, 1979, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., retrieved November 6, 2016
The GF/RU (Army designation SCR-183), a derivative of the civilian Model B, was chosen as America's standard military aircraft radio of the early 1930s.
By 1933, ARC-designed radios were being installed in the 1st fighter (aircraft) squadrons of the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Navy.
By 1934, the company had its own airfield and airplane (a Berliner parasol monoplane, for experimentation.
The ARC-designed Navy ATA/ARA and SCR-274N communications radios were soon followed by the AN/ARC-5 communications radio system, which was a leading suite of Allied airborne electronics equipment during World War II.Tauson, M. W., "A User's Guide to Aircraft Radio Corporation Receivers," retrieved November 6, 2016
Wartime In the 1940s, ARC radios were everywhere in U.S. military aircraft. Lewis Hull served as ARC President.
The 1930s-era Model GF/RU remained valuable throughout World War II. An historical document of the Naval Research Laboratory reported that "very large numbers of these equipments were obtained and utilized before and during World War II, and they were used for a considerable time thereafter."(caption, p. 66)
Among the company's most notable wartime programs was the development – jointly with the U.S. Army Signal Corps and U.S. Navy – of the SCR-274-N, an exceptionally useful HF voice-communication radio for aircraft, ranging up to frequencies of 20 megacycles – "the only powerful command set... available to American aviators at the beginning of the war" – particularly useful in the Pacific Theater, and valued at over US$2,400 at the time. ARC had delivered 2,700 of an ordered 2800 by December 1941, but the sudden wartime demand for tens of thousands of them forced the government to turn to a major manufacturer – Westinghouse Corporation – for the rest.Thompson, George Raynor, et al.: "The Test (December 1941 To July 1943)", from United States Army In World War II: The Technical Services: The Signal Corps, 1957, Office of The Chief of Military History, Department Of The Army, Washington, D. C., retrieved April 1, 2021
Postwar
The military avionics market evaporated after World War II, and ARC found itself outmaneuvered in commercial airline radios by Bendix Corp. and Collins. The postwar collapse of the light plane industry took their last market, and for the first time, ARC was losing money. The Korean War changed that—driving up demand for their military radios, but, again, when the war ended, ARC struggled. The situation was exacerbated by key engineers leaving to start their own enterprises.
An engagement with Laurence and David Rockefeller to work on a secret military radar system led to the Rockefeller family buying a controlling interest in ARC, and to their tampering with its independent status. Litton Industries got involved. Stock values fluctuated, burning some.
Cessna acquires ARC In 1959, ARC was acquired by one of its principal customers, Cessna Aircraft Company, the world's highest-volume airplane manufacturer. Cessna, while retaining the name and quasi-independent status of Aircraft Radio Corporation, rebranded the company's products as "Cessna avionics," and the enterprise began a notorious decline in product quality, resulting in high product-failure rates and a terrible reputation in the aviation industry"Cessna 177 Cardinal," March 31, 2016, Aviation Consumer retrieved April 27, 2017Aarons, Richard N., ed., "B/CA Analysis: Cessna 425 Corsair," January 1981, Business & Commercial Aviation, McGraw-Hill, as transcribed at aviationresearch.com, retrieved Nov. 6, 2016Flaum, District Judge, Memorandum Opinion, "FONTANA AVIATION, INC., Plaintiff, v. The CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY and Cessna Finance Corporation, Defendants,", Citation: 460 F. Supp. 1151 (1978), Docket No. 77 C 728, November 21, 1978, United States District Court, N. D. Illinois, Eastern Division, as posted on CourtListener.com, retrieved Nov. 6, 2016 —which ARC nevertheless survived through its key position as the in-house supplier of the "factory standard" avionics for Cessna, world leader in light aircraft.Cox, Bill: "What Not To Buy" section in "Used Cessna 182 Skylanes," May 23, 2017, updated November 25, 2020, Plane and Pilot, retrieved March 31, 2021; "Unfortunately, ARC avionics [were troubled with] a number of problems, most [associated with] overheating and eventual failure. Cessna buyers began purchasing airplanes [that were] naked of any avionics... flying them to [their] home base, [where they had] NARCO or King radios [installed by] local shops, [instead]."
During this time, ARC's "Cessna" avionics line expanded and diversified radically to include most types of avionics for light planes, including NAV, COM, ADF, DME, and Marker beacon radios, and autopilots—mostly at the low end of the quality spectrum."History of Cessna Aircraft Company," FundingUniverse.com, retrieved November 6, 2016Cessna Aircraft Co., job advertisement for "AIRCRAFT RADIO & CONTROL, Cessna's avionics division" in The Tech, Volume 101, Number 44, October 27, 1981, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Charles River Publishing, Inc., Cambridge. Mass. (ISSN 0148-9607) as cached on Google.com, retrieved Nov. 6, 2016
In the mid-1970s, during a period of exceptionally high productivity for Cessna, ARC was entangled in a legal battle with its employee's union, which resulted in a 1975 judgement favoring ARC. During the proceedings, the following findings emerged as public record in the published decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit:
"Aircraft Radio Company,* located at Boonton, New Jersey, is the second smallest of seven operating divisions of the Cessna Aircraft Company which has its headquarters at Wichita, Kansas. ARC is engaged in the manufacture, distribution and sale of aviation communication and navigational equipment. It supplies its products to Cessna as well as to other competitive firms. ARC is conducted as an independent business; sales and profits are accounted for separately, and its wage agreements are independently negotiated. In fiscal year 1972, ARC had total sales of $11,000,000 and in 1971, $6,700,000, which resulted in net losses for each of those years. By contrast, Cessna is much larger and more profitable. Its sales for 1972 were $248,000,000 which resulted in profits of $13,500,000."
(* Note that the original (1972) title of the case named ARC as "Aircraft Radio Corporation – implying a legally distinct entity, while the appeals court decision (1975), under that original case name, repeatedly refers to ARC in the body of the ruling as "Aircraft Radio Company," implying an identity less certainly distinct from its parent company, Cessna—a fact that changed during the litigation, apparently sometime after a September, 1973 letter from parent Cessna, of which the Court notes:
The company responded with a letter on September 25, 1973, asserting that the sales and profits cited by IUE were those of the Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, and that ARC was independently responsible for all phases of its own business, including making a profit. On the following day, the company general manager delivered a prepared speech to the employees, explaining the distinction between ARC and Cessna and making available the [(separate)] financial reports of both concerns.)
The ARC identity issue, though—and the timing of ARC's names—is further confused by this 1978 statement in a judge's memorandum in a lawsuit over Cessna's marketing of its avionics: