Editing Flight recorder (section)

=== Australian designs ===
[[File:ABC Black Box.ogv|thumb|Video clip of 1985 [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] news report interviewing David Warren about his invention]]
In 1953, while working at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories (ARL) of the [[Defence Science and Technology Organisation]] in [[Melbourne]],<ref name="DSTO"/> Australian research scientist [[David Warren (inventor)|David Warren]] conceived a device that would record not only the instrument readings, but also the voices in the cockpit.<ref name="APC"/> In 1954 he published a report entitled "A Device for Assisting Investigation into Aircraft Accidents".<ref name="Independent"/>

Warren built a [[prototype]] FDR called "The ARL Flight Memory Unit" in 1956,<ref name="Independent"/> and in 1958 he built the first combined FDR/CVR prototype.<ref name="APC"/><ref>[https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1909619,00.html "A Brief History of Black Boxes"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. July 20, 2009. p. 22.</ref> It was designed with civilian aircraft in mind, explicitly for post-crash examination purposes.<ref name="Time"/> Aviation authorities from around the world were largely uninterested at first, but this changed in 1958 when Sir Robert Hardingham, the [[Secretary (title)|secretary]] of the [[Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom)|British Air Registration Board]], visited the ARL and was introduced to David Warren.<ref name="DSTO"/> Hardingham realized the significance of the invention and arranged for Warren to demonstrate the prototype in the UK.<ref name="Independent"/>

The ARL assigned an engineering team to help Warren develop the prototype to the airborne stage. The team, consisting of electronics engineers Lane Sear, Wally Boswell, and Ken Fraser, developed a working design that incorporated a fire-resistant and shockproof case, a reliable system for encoding and recording aircraft instrument readings and voice on one wire, and a ground-based decoding device. The ARL system, made by the British firm of S. Davall & Sons Ltd, in [[Middlesex]], was named the "Red Egg" because of its shape and bright red color.<ref name="Independent"/>

The units were redesigned in 1965 and relocated at the rear of aircraft to increase the probability of successful data retrieval after a crash.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aea.net/AvionicsNews/ANArchives/FlightDataRecordersJan06.pdf|title=Flight Data Recorders – Built to Survive|author=Tony Bailey|date=January 2006|page=38|publisher=Avionics News|website=aea.net|access-date=September 5, 2018|archive-date=December 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210013702/http://aea.net/AvionicsNews/ANArchives/FlightDataRecordersJan06.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Carriage of data recording equipment became mandatory in UK-registered aircraft in two phases; the first, for new turbine-engined public transport category aircraft over {{convert|12000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} in weight, was mandated in 1965, with a further requirement in 1966 for piston-engined transports over {{convert|60000|lb|kg|abbr=on}}, with the earlier requirement further extended to all jet transports. One of the first UK uses of the data recovered from an aircraft accident was that recovered from the Royston "Midas" data recorder that was on board the [[British Midland]] [[Canadair North Star|Argonaut]] involved in the [[Stockport Air Disaster]] in 1967.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%201315.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214002903/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%201315.html |archive-date=February 14, 2019 |title=1967 {{!}} 1315 {{!}} Flight Archive}}</ref>