Scientific Instruments
Receiver, Radio Range, ARC, Lab Prototype, Model B
Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum. Open access, CC0.

Receiver, Radio Range, ARC, Lab Prototype, Model B

A radio receiver whose vibrating reed signaled whether a pilot was on the radio beam, so the pilot could fly blind through fog.

Date
1929
Maker
Aircraft Radio Corp.
Place
United States of America
Materials
Steel, Paint, Plastic, Phenolic Resin, Aluminum
Dimensions
3-D: 15.2 x 39.4 x 19.1cm, 5.1kg (6 x 15 1/2 x 7 1/2 in., 11 3/16lb.)
Museum
National Air and Space Museum
Credit line
Gift of Cessna Aircraft Company

Jimmy Doolittle used this radio receiver to “fly the beam,” which was a radio signal that actuated a vibrating reed to indicate if he was on course. The American Radio Corporation built the device in 1929.

The museum's own record (Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum)