Catalogue introductions
1952
The radio installation has become an integral part of the aircraft's equipment; so much so, in fact, that many regulations exist in order to ensure that its performance and construction are of the highest standard. Ample proof of Marconi superiority in this field is provided by the number of constructors who make Marconi equipment their first choice. Reliability combined with the highest possible performance have always been the guiding factors in the design of Britain's latest aircraft, of which the following are some of the more famous which carry Marconi equipment:
- De Havilland Comet
- English Electric Canberra
- Airspeed Ambassador
- Armstrong Whitworth Apollo
- Bristol Freighter
- Handley Page Hermes IV
- Percival Prince
- Short Sealand
- Vickers Viscount
The advent of jet propulsion and the consequent design of aeroplanes capable of greater speeds than ever before has necessitated drastic reconsideration of conventional ideas on aircraft aerials. The radio and radar services are required to operate satisfactory with aerials which introduce no aerodynamic drag on the aircraft structure. Such drag reduces the aircraft performance and is considerable at speeds exceeding 300 to 400 mph.
Furthermore, the design of externally projecting aerials capable of withstanding the forces imposed on them at those speeds is extremely complicated.
A modern aircraft requires 'dragless' or suppressed aerials and these must operate on a variety of frequency bands and under diverse conditions.
Marconi engineers have been actively engaged in research in this field and development work on many types of suppressed aerials have been carried out. Actual installations have been completely engineered amongst them being that of the De Havilland Comet which is fitted entirely with suppressed aerials.
1958 Available here
1960 available here
1961 available here
1962 available here
1963 available here
1966 available here
The 1962 Wilcox agreement
A unique service in the Anglo-American field of aviation radio can now be offered by the Company in collaboration with Wilcox Electric Company Inc. of Kansas City, USA. The two Companies have signed an agreement which includes the full interchange of design, engineering and production information, as well as the manufacture and sale by either firm of equipment designed by the other. Future development programmes will be co-ordinated to allow the most effective utilisation of engineering capacity.
The Wilcox Company was founded over 30 years ago and its interests have been devoted exclusively to the development and production of radio communications and navigation equipment for both ground and airborne installations. They are one of the two companies who have received development contracts for air traffic control transponders from the US Federal Aviation Agency.
This close association will be of the greatest benefit to all users of Marconi airadio equipment.
Contents
Marconi aircraft
Marconi had a number of aircraft supporting its avionic's activities and further information is available here.
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