Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane and Lawrence Sperry decided that he would be the test pilot. While taxiing it on ice, he hit some slushy snow, and wrecked the plane, though Sperry was unhurt. A second airplane was fitted out, and Sperry managed to get it in the air, but lost control when the automatic pilot was engaged. After two complete rolls, Sperry managed to regain control and land safely. Clearly, though, more attention to flight testing the basic design was needed, particularly in the area of handling qualities. Sperry and his assistant, N. W. Dalton, obtained a Marmon automobile, and mounted the Curtiss-Sperry Flying
Aviator Glacier Aviator Glacier Aviator Glacier is major valley glacier in Antarctica that is over long and wide, descending generally southward from the plateau of Victoria Land along the west side of Mountaineer Range, and entering Lady Newnes Bay between Cape Sibbald and Hayes Head where it forms the Aviator Glacier Tongue. A glacier is a mass of ice with sufficient thickness to flow away from the source area in lobes, tongues or masses. Glaciers are usually found at high altitudes or high elevations. The glacier was photographed from the air by Captain W.M. Hawkes, US Navy, on the historic first flight