Bendix Corporation
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The Bendix Corporation was founded in 1924 by the inventor Vincent Bendix. At first it manufactured brake systems for cars and trucks. It supplied General Motors with braking systems for its production lines for several decades. In 1929 Vincent Bendix branched out in aeronautics and renamed the company "Bendix Aviation" to reflect the new product lines. Bendix supplied aircraft manufacturers with all manners of hydraulic systems, for braking, and flap activation and introduced new devices such as a pressure carburetor which dominated the market before World War II. It also made a wide variety of electrical and electronic instruments for aircraft. Bendix sponsored the famous Bendix continental air race which started in 1931, and is known for the Bendix Trophy. It was a transcontinental US point-to-point race meant to encourage the development of durable, efficient aircraft for commercial aviation, but civilians were barred from the race in 1950. The last race occurred in 1962.
During World War II Bendix made just about every ancillary instrument or equipment for military aircraft. The Bendix radio division was born in 1937, to make two way radio sets for aircraft and other types of aviation electronics or avionics. During the war about three quarters of all aviation electronics in US planes had the Bendix name on it.
Bendix started making domestic radios and phonographs for the retail market after the war, as an outgrowth of its production of two way radios for aircraft. Bendix also built television sets from 1950 to 1959.
Production of radios for the retail trade stopped in the mid fifties, but in 1948 Bendix started to sell car radios directly to Ford and other builders. This market rapidly grew during the 50s, but shrank just as fast in the 60s when Ford, GM and Chrysler started producing their own radios.
During and after the war Bendix made radars of all kinds. During the 60s it made ground and airborne telecommunications systems for NASA. It also developed the first fuel injection systems in the US.
In the 1956 the Bendix computer division, Los Angeles, of Bendix Aviation introduced the Bendix G-15, a mini computer which was the size of two high filing cabinets, or a very deep refrigerator. They sold about 400 at a starting price of less than US$50,000. The Bendix computer division was taken over by Control Data Corporation in 1963, and the G-15 went on being produced by them for a few years. The chief designer of the G-15 was Harry Huskey, who had worked with Alan Turing on the ACE in the United Kingdom and on the SWAC in the 50s. He created most of the design while working as a professor at Berkeley, and other universities, and moonlighting as a consultant.
In the 70s, 80s and 90s Bendix went through a series of mergers, sales and changes with partners or buyers like Raytheon, Allied Signal and others. This diluted its corporate identity, though for some years these companies would use the Bendix brand for some of their products, such as aircraft flight control systems.
In 1982, Bendix launched a hostile takeover bid of Martin Marietta. Bendix bought the majority of Martin Marietta shares and in effect owned the company. However, Martin Marietta's management used the short time separating ownership and control to sell non-core businesses and launch its own hostile takeover of Bendix (the Pac-Man Defense). In the end, Martin Marietta won, and Bendix became part of the Allied Corporation.
The Allied Corporation would later buy Honeywell and adopt the Honeywell name, and Bendix became a Honeywell brand.
From the 1950's until the early 1980's, Bendix even managed Department of Energy (DOE) facilities in Kansas City, MO and Albuquerque, NM which procured non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons.
Honeywell now has a brand line of Bendix/king avionics, including completely digital integrated glass cockpits. Its commercial vehicles division also has a Bendix line of electronics and other vacuum or hydraulic subsystems. Apart from this brand name use Bendix has disappeared completely as a distinct corporation.
Bendix was immortalized in a corporate advertisement created by electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott entitled "The Tomorrow People." The track can be found on the Raymond Scott compilation album "Manhattan Research, Inc." (2000).
