Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane for eight years, and yet Sperry became intrigued with the concept of applying radio control to them. He realized that for radio control to be effective, automatic stabilization would be essential, so he decided to adapt his naval gyro-stabilizers (which he had developed for destroyers). In 1913, the Navy provided a flying boat to test and evaluate the gyro-based autopilot. Sperry's son Lawrence served as an engineer during the test phase. In 1914, Lawrence Sperry was in Europe and observed the developing techniques of aerial warfare, including the use of aircraft. In 1916, the two Sperrys joined Peter Hewitt, an
Burst of Joy I'm one of the lucky ones." Donald Goldstein, a retired Air Force colonel and a co-author of a prominent Vietnam War photojournalism book, "The Vietnam War: The Stories and The Photographs", says of "Burst of Joy", "After years of fighting a war we couldn't win, a war that tore us apart, it was finally over, and the country could start healing." Burst of Joy Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Slava "Sal" Veder, taken on March 17, 1973 at Travis Air Force Base in California. The photograph came to symbolize the end of United