The AZON area includes the BC-1158 transmitter loaned to the exhibit by Hans Konrad Kristjansson. Hans also provided international shipping for it to and from Iceland. See the “wall hangings” section for a detailed thank you to Hans.

The BC-1158 was the transmitter used in the AZON system, the first “guided weapon” ever deployed by the U. S. Air Force (then the Army Air Force). It was used with considerable success late in the war to attack bridges in the China-India-Burma Theater and with less success in Europe.

The exhibit includes photos from the National Archives showing AZON personnel, facilities, and target runs. One highlight is an AAF silk “escape and evasion” map showing South Burma, an area that was often the target of AZON bridge attacks.

The BC-1158 and its BC-1156 joystick control box are the only two items in the exhibit for which Argus was the only known manufacturer (under sub-contract to the Pacific Division of Bendix). Production of the BC-1158 was limited, and many of the surviving examples were converted to voice transmission applications by HAMs after the war. Finding one like Hans’s in near-original condition is uncommon. It was purchased on eBay several years ago, from a seller about 100 miles west of Ann Arbor who was clearing out his father’s estate.