This exhibit would not have been possible without the skilled support and creativity of Cheryl Chidester, the curator of the Argus Museum. The Museum itself owes its existence to the generosity Joe O’Neal, Chairman of the O’Neal Construction Company, who purchased and restored Plant 1 in 1983 and who has been the Museum’s most critical supporter since its inception in 1987.

Hans Konrad Kristjansson loaned the BC-1158 transmitter to the exhibit. Almost impossible to find or purchase, it and its BC-1156 control box are the only items in the exhibit for which Argus is the only known manufacturer. Hans agreed to loan the BC-1158 to the exhibit on the basis of one long-distance phone call, and then paid to have it shipped form Iceland to Ann Arbor. We thank him both for his generosity and his trust.

Jay Wisler of Warbird Parts and Memorabilia in Tampa Bay gave us a great deal on the MN-26 receiver (“new old stock,” packed in wax since 1945) and shipped it to us at a big discount. Jerry Woodhall of the Bendix Foundation in Baltimore generously and repeatedly shared his historic and technical knowledge of Bendix’s WWII products with us.

Kevin Conklin drove all over the Pennsylvania countryside to track down the remains of an early VOR navigation system, and Tom Culbert provided key documentation of the history of the AZON system from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.

This section also includes wall hangings that capture the roles of some of “the greatest generation” whose strength and diligence are the source of the exhibit. The young woman shown in the “Bendix MN-26 Wiring Ad” stands for hundreds of thousands of others employed in factories across the country during the war.

The two pages of Argus Eyes clippings depict Plant 1’s radio workers. Wartime security concerns clearly limited the extent to which their activities were documented, but a few specific references (underlined in red) got through.

The “Bendix Radio Compass Ad” depicts three B-17’s over the Atlantic at sunrise. They are shown between the U.S. and England, the Allied countries that flew much of what Plant 1 produced and whose bomber crews suffered casualty rates that were among the highest of all combat units in the war.

As mentioned in the text on the HOME page, Adrian Wylie made the photographs used on this site. It truly would not exist but for his skilled and timely work.