Lawrence Burst Sperry (21 December 1892,

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States – December 13, 1923,

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

) was an aviation pioneer who invented the

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...

and the

artificial horizon The attitude indicator (AI), also known as the gyro horizon or artificial horizon, is a flight instrument that informs the pilot of the aircraft Orientation (geometry), orientation relative to Earth's horizon, and gives an immediate indication of ...

Biography

Sperry was the third son of the

gyrocompass A gyrocompass is a type of non-magnetic compass which is based on a fast-spinning disc and the rotation of the Earth (or another planetary body if used elsewhere in the universe) to find geographical Direction (geometry), direction automaticall ...

co-inventor,

Elmer Ambrose Sperry Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. (October 12, 1860 – June 16, 1930) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Corporation, Sperry ...

, and his wife Zula. Sperry invented the first

, which he demonstrated with startling success in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1914. Sperry is also credited with developing the

still used on most aircraft in the early 21st century. In 1918, he married film actress

Winifred Allen Winifred Allen (June 26, 1896 – January 3, 1943) was an American silent film actress. She appeared in several films between 1915 and 1924. She was known later as Winifred Sperry Tenney. Early years Born in New Rochelle, Allen graduate ...

, and ''Flying Magazine'' reported that they were "the first couple to take an aerial honeymoon" after they flew from Amityville to

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...

. On 13 December 1923, Sperry took off amid fog in a Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

headed for

but never reached his destination. His body was found in the

on 11 January 1924.

Legacy

A website using the name ''

Mile High Club The mile high club is slang for people who have had sexual intercourse on board an aircraft during flight. While this usually refers to sexual acts in an airliner lavatory (for privacy), a sexual act anywhere on a plane in flight would fit the t ...

'' regards the "Club's" "founder" as pilot and design engineer Lawrence Sperry, along with "socialite Mrs. Waldo Peirce" ( Dorothy Rice Sims) citing their flight in an

-equipped Curtiss Flying Boat near

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in November 1916.Check-Six.com
– The First at a "Mile-High"

Why, Mrs Peirce and I didn't have what you might dignify by calling a real accident. It was only a trivial mishap. We decided to land on the water and came down perfectly from a height of 600 feet and would have made a perfect landing had not the hull of our machine struck one of the stakes that dot the water, which staved a hole in it.

In 1979, Sperry was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the

San Diego Air & Space Museum The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building (San Diego), Ford Building, which is li ...

. Sperry was inducted into the

Naval Aviation Hall of Honor The United States Naval Aviation Hall of Honor, located at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, recognizes individuals "who by their actions or achievements made outstanding contributions to Naval Aviation." Since its incepti ...

at the National Naval Aviation Museum in

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, in 1992.

Sperry Award winners

The Lawrence Sperry Award is presented by the

AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

for a notable contribution made by a young person, age 35 or under, to the advancement of aeronautics or astronautics. *1936 William C. Rockefeller *1937

Kelly Johnson (engineer) Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical engineering, aeronautical and Systems engineering, systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important air ...

*1938 Russell C. Newhouse *1939 Charles M Kearns Jr. *1941 Ernest G. Stout *1942 Edward C. Wells *1967

Gene Kranz Eugene Francis Kranz (born August 17, 1933) is an American aerospace engineer who served as NASA's second Chief Flight Director, directing missions of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, including the first lunar landing mission, Apoll ...

*1970

Glynn Lunney Glynn Stephen Lunney (November 27, 1936 – March 19, 2021) was an American NASA engineer. An employee of NASA since its creation in 1958, Lunney was a flight controller, flight director during the Project Gemini, Gemini and Project Apollo, Apo ...

*1984

Sally Ride Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonauts V ...

*1985 William P. Lear *1986 Parviz Moin *1987 James L. Thomas *1988 David W. Thompson *1989 Cas P. Van Dam *1990 Ilan M. Kroo *1991 Mark Drela *1992 John T. Batina *1993 Tim Barth *1994 William K. Anderson *1995 William P Schonberg *1996 Penina Axelrad *1997 John Kallinderis *1998 Iain D. Boyd *1999 Robert D. Braun *2000 Anna-Maria R. McGowan *2001 Keith A Comeaux *2002 Edward C. Smith *2003 Myles L. Baker *2004 Jeffrey D. Jordan *2005 Tim C. Lieuwen *2006 Lynn Nicole Smith *2007 Amy Pritchett *2008 Ryan P. Starkey *2009 Adam Rasheed *2010 Mitchell L. Walker II *2011 M. Brett McMickell *2012 Hamsa Balakrishnan *2013 Eric J. Ruggiero *2014 Kimberley C. Clayfield *2015 Jeremy T. Pinier *2016 Joshua Rovey *2017 Karen T. Berger *2018 Michael D. West *2019 Katya M. Casper *2020 Patrick R. C. Neumann *2021 Benjamin Jorns *2022 Michael P. Snyder

References

External links

Lawrence Sperry Award
*, article from ''Aviation History Magazine''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperry, Lawrence 1892 births 1923 deaths Aviation inventors Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Engineers from Illinois Aviators from Chicago 20th-century American engineers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1923 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters

Biography

Legacy

Sperry Award winners

See also

References

External links