The Flight Data Recorder was invented in the United States by James J. Ryan, yet the first modern device, the 1942 Mata-Hari, was created by Finnish engineer Veijo Hietala. Australian Dr David Warren conceived the world's first combined flight data and cockpit voice recorder in 1953 while investigating Comet jet crashes, and by 1954 he had produced the prototype black box.
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Jim Goodrich
Jim Goodrich is a pilot, aviation expert and founder of Tsunami Air.
Who invented the Flight Data Recorder?
The Flight Data Recorder was invented by Australian scientist David Ronald de Mey Warren AO. While working as a fuel chemist at the Melbourne-based Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Warren conceived the idea of a black box flight recorder in 1953 during his participation in the investigation team into the series of Comet jet crashes. His device, popularly called Flight Memory, recorded detailed flight data and cockpit conversations using wire recording technology based on a Minifon pocket recorder. A prototype was produced with instrument maker Tych Mirfield and the Davall company and was tested on 15 March 1962 in Fokker Friendship VH-CAV flown from Essendon airport, Melbourne. The Warren black box was adopted by the British in the early 1960s, and Australia became the first country to mandate black boxes on all major aircraft.
What was the first Flight Data Recorder?
The Wright brothers carried the first Flight Data Recorder that registered distance flown, time in the air, and number of engine revolutions. Decades later, the first modern flight data recorder, called Mata Hari, was created in 1942 by Finnish aviation engineer Veijo Hietala.
Another early attempt came in 1939 at the Marignane flight test center in France, where Fran ois Hussenot and Paul Beaudouin built the type HB flight recorder. Their device used an 8-metre-long, 88-millimetre-wide scrolling photographic film to record altitude and speed information.
Metal-foil medium reappeared in 1950s first-generation FDRs, which were housed in a crash-survivable box installed in the aft end of an airplane.
