Radio Compass Loop Antenna Housing (USA)

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from National Museum of American History as part of Tools: Extending Our Reach.

This radio-antenna used for navigation was found on the exterior of most airplanes during World War II. Earlier radio-direction-finder antennas from the 1920s and ‘30s, consisting of wire coils over a circular form, imparted substantial aerodynamic drag; metal housings were not ideal because they disrupted signal reception. This so-called "football," made of Bakelite, the first totally synthetic plastic, became the answer to the problem. Bakelite was lightweight, transparent to radio waves, resistant to heat, cold, water, as well as most acids, and was a superb electrical insulator, all critical for aviation design. Created by Belgian chemist Leo H. Baekeland in 1907, Bakelite was used in airplane parts as early as World War I. It was a powered resinous material that could be molded into any shape and could not be melted or remolded. This radio-antenna housing is molded from cloth-filled Bakelite, which provides strength and increases its moldability.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Tools: Extending Our Reach.