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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."