Quality, reliable radios and systems for air, land, and sea.
The Collins Story
The Life and Legacy of Arthur A. Collins
Arthur Collins has been described as a genius, a visionary, a fireball casting a brilliancy across the sky. There is no doubt Arthur and his Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company engineered many pioneering technologies that greatly influenced significant moments in our world and in space.
“Your progress will depend on your individual imagination. I urge you to give it free reign.”
Explorers in the Richard Byrd expedition regaled Americans with stories of their discoveries at the bottom of the Earth through Collins’ radio equipment.
1934
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The production requirements forced the company to cancel all leaves of absence during the holiday season.
December 1, 1943
A celebration was held commemorating the 1,500th ART-13 radio manufactured for the war-time effort.
December 4, 1965
Gemini 7 was launched by a Titan II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, manned by Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on a fourteen-day mission. Station-keeping experiments were performed using the Titan II second stage. On December 15 Gemini 6A was launched. Gemini 6A caught up to Gemini 7 and rendezvous was technically achieved and station-keeping begun on the same day.
December 15, 1965
Gemini 6A was launched by a Titan II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, manned by Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford. The mission priorities were to demonstrate on-time launch procedures, closed-loop rendezvous capabilities, and station-keeping techniques with Gemini 7 which was already in orbit.
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World War II Production Defending Liberty
It’s World War II. The United States government needs rugged, hi-tech radio equipment for U.S. and Allied Forces. It needs lots of it, and fast. One of the companies the U.S. military turns to is Collins Radio, an Iowa company led by a young CEO known for his engineering genius. The small company answers the call to help defend liberty, producing thousands of state-of-the-art radios to provide troops, sailors and airmen with reliable, long-distance communications essential to liberating Europe and the world.