The Narco Story - A little
history
Narco Avionics
is the oldest General Aviation Avionics Manufacturer in the world. Many avionics
companies have come and gone over Narco's 60 year history. With the ups and
downs of a volatile economy and / or industry difficulty Narco Avionics has
evolved into the company it is today.
Over the years we've accomplished many good things
for aviation and our fellow pilots / customers. In fact many of you probably
learned to fly in aircraft equipped with Narco radios.
Our founders, Jim Riddle, A.R. Applegarth and Rudy
Garfield incorporated Narco as National Aeronautical Radio Corporation on November
11th 1945. The founders and two employees commenced operation in the back room
of a store in Collingswood, New Jersey and shortly thereafter moved to Ambler,
Pennsylvania. Our operations continued at Wings Field for a few years until the
mid 1950's, when the company moved to it's current home, located in Fort
Washington, Pennsylvania.
Some Significant Contributions to the Industry
1947 - Narco introduces the MB-1 Marker Beacon Reciever.
1948 -
Narco received CAA development contract which helped to develop the first VHF Navigation and Communications system to be
offered to light aircraft.
1949 - Narco introduced the VTR-1 Omnigator.
1951 - Narco introduced the first and quite famous VGTR-1 Unicom
transceiver.
1951 - Narco won a second CAA contract to develop something new
called DME.
1954 -
Narco demonstrated and sold the first multiplex type
DME, the UDI-1, to airspace system users.
1958 -
Narco introduced the first economical, crystal controlled transmitter/receiver unit, the Mark
V, to be offered to General Aviation.
* Did you know the standard width of your
radio stack today came from something called Mark Width", which originally came from the famous Mark series of Narco
radios?
1959 -
Narco introduced the famous MBT (75 MHz Marker Beacon Receiver). The first
Airborne equipment in General Aviation to use new
'State Of The Art Transistor Technology'.
1961 - Narco introduced the first Tacan DME, the UDI-2.
1963 - Beginning of the famous (and still in use)
Mark-12.
1968 - Narco introduced the first totally solid state 1-1/2
NAV/COM, the Mark-24.
1969 - The first Area Navigation System for General Aviation,
the CLC-60 was introduced.
1975 -
Introduction of the first totally solid state DME,
the famous DME-190, which is still in wide use today.
1976 - The first totally integrated NAV/ILS package, the
NAV-122, was introduced.
1980 - Narco introduced the enormously popular
Mark-12D.
1985 - The first handheld NAV/COM with digital bearing, the
HT-830, was introduced.
1989 -
Introduction of the very important
Mark-12D/Cessna replacement
radio for the RT308 / RT328 series.
1992 -
Narco introduced the first GPS based Multi-Sensor Navigation system,
the
NS-9000 Star*Nav, for General Aviation use.
1995 - Re-introduction of
Mark-12E/Cessna replacement radio for the RT385
/ RT485 series.
1996 - Narco introduced the
COM-810+R replacement radio for the
COM-11 series.
1996 - The
Mark-12D/R a replacement radio for the original
Mark-12 series is introduced.
1997 -
Re-Introduction of the highly demanded NAV-122 as the
NAV-122D, a new design
which uses surface mount technology throughout.
1998 -
Introduction of the
NAV-122D/GPS a version of the
NAV-122D which interfaces with
an existing GPS panel mount installation.
2006 - The much anticipated introduction of the TOTALLY Solid State
AT165/C and
AT165/C Value Series
Digital Display RT359A/RT459A Replacement Transponders.
2008 - XCOM Avionics, an
Australian company, and Narco Avionics enter into a manufacturing
agreement. The XCOM 2¼" VHF760 COM will be manufactured and
supported in the USA by Narco.
2009 - The VHF760 2¼" COM is manufactured, tested, supported and distributed by Narco Avionics and its dealer network.
Today - Narco continues to develop new and
innovative products which offer
excellent quality and value to our customers.