The Same Man Invented Autopilot And The Mile High Club 100 Years Ago - 774159689256906018.jpg

vids ---
http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/lawre...e-m-1592623110

On this date (June 18th) in 1914, autopilot was demonstrated for the first time
on an aircraft, becoming one of the most important innovations to the cockpit in
history. Its inventor, is also known for founding a "club" that many have
aspired to join over the past century, as well.

American pilot Lawrence Sperry was the last performer in the Concours de la
Securité en Aéroplane (Airplane Safety Competition) being held on the banks of
the Seine River. The competition, which included 57 other planes. He took to the
air in his Curtiss C-2 biplane, which was specially equipped with a gyroscopic
stabilizer, with the purpose of maintaining stability and control. His father,
Elmer had developed the gyrocompass, an innovation which had been installed on
several American warships. Lawrence took his dad's idea and modified it to meet
the needs of maintaining the 3 flight axes (pitch, roll and yaw).

Sperry flew down the Seine while the firemen's band played "The Star-Spangled
Banner." he astonished the crowd by holding both of his hands high over his
head. The crowd shouted things such as "Extraordinaire! Remarquable!
Formidable!" On his next pass, his mechanic, Emil Cachin got out and walked
about 7 feet out on the right wing on the plane while Sperry once again help up
his hands. This not only proved the plane was still pilotless, it proved the
gyroscope could correct the roll caused by the change in the plane's balance.
This time, the band struck up "La Marseillaise" - the French National Anthem.

Sperry was awarded 50,000 francs ($10,000) as a prize and he appeared on the
front pages of many European newspapers. Here in the U.S. however, the New York
Times buried the story on page 6, eight days after the fact. The paper remarked:
"Of stability commonly understood, no heavier than air flight vehicles will ever
have even as much as that dreadfully fragile monster, the dirigible."

Since its early days, autopilot has allowed pilots to focus on more important
tasks such as navigation, and dropping bombs by hand (in the video above). Now
that pilots are flying much longer stints, it's used more often as a relief
mechanism to sit back from the controls during long stretches at cruising
altitude.

Lawrence Sperry was one of America's first licensed pilots, receiving Federal
Aeronautics Pilot License number 11 from the Aero Club of America on October 15,
1913. It's questionable whether Sperry is more famous for his invention of the
autopilot, or an act in which he engaged while using it than could have gotten
him killed.

In November of 1916, Sperry who was a known playboy, was giving a flying lesson
to a New York socialite named Mrs. Waldo Polk, whose husband was supporting the
war effort in France by driving ambulances. The legend says that during the
flight of the Curtiss flying boat, the autopilot somehow became disengaged,
plunging Sperry and Mrs, Polk into South Bay. They were found naked by duck
hunters. Sperry insisted that the force of the crash is what had caused them to
lose all of their clothes, but to this day, he is credited as the founding
member of the Mile High Club.

He died at the young age of 31, after his plane went down while crossing the
English Channel. He had 23 patents to his name, all relating to aviation safety.
I guess it seems like an obvious thing to invent, for a guy who was known for
being a bit of a reckless, but not wreck-less flyer.





go Warriors!