King Radio (company)

King Radio
Industry Avionics
Fate acquired by Honeywell, merged with Bendix
Founded 1959
Founder Ed King
Defunct 1983
Parent Honeywell

King Radio was a company started by Ed King, Jr (1921–2012). King was an engineering student at Kansas State University. In 1948 he founded his first company manufacturing components for Collins. After selling his first venture in 1959, King founded King Radio in a rural area outside Kansas City.[1] The company was moved shortly after its formation to a plant in Olathe, Kansas. It was later purchased by Allied Corporation and merged with Bendix Corporation in 1985 to form Bendix/King.

Products

A King KY197 Comm radio in a Yankee panel

King Radio was a manufacturer of general aviation avionics and aviation gauges and indicators. It was a major avionics supplier of Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft.

The success of King Radio began with the highly popular KY 90 VHF communications radio, known for its clarity and low cost. Over the years King Radio produced many hits such as the KDF 800 Automatic Direction Finder and the KX 155 Navigation/Communication radio. Many of these products can still be found on aircraft flying today.

Acquisition

In 1983, King Radio was acquired by the Allied Corporation, which also purchased Bendix Aviation that same year. The combined company was called Bendix/King. Allied Corporation merged with the Signal Companies in 1985 to form AlliedSignal. That company later merged with Honeywell, and retained the use of the Honeywell name.[2]

The BendixKing brand has remained popular with aviation enthusiasts, and both AlliedSignal and Honeywell have used the brand on their general aviation products to this day.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, August 11, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.