In this segment from The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, Mo Rocca meets with curator of communications and information technology Kristen Gallerneaux to learn more about the Ford radio beacon station.

The radio beacon may be Henry Ford's most important contribution to aviation. Early pilots depended on landmarks, preventing reliable navigation in bad weather. Ford's engineers developed a radio beacon that simultaneously transmitted the Morse code letter "A" (dotdash) in one direction and the letter "N" (dashdot) in another. The pilot steered until the separate signals merged into a steady hum. Useful in inclement weather, these safety devices were adopted in airports across the nation.

Although Henry Ford did not invent the radio beacon, he helped to make it a reality. Ford radio engineer Eugene S. Donovan invented the radio beacon in 1926. Ford incorporated it into the radio beacon station at Ford airport shortly after.

View artifacts from the original Ford radio beacon station: https://www.thehenryford.org/collecti...

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