Autopilot reducing the pilot's workload. Lawrence Sperry (the son of famous inventor Elmer Sperry) demonstrated it in 1914 at an aviation safety contest held in Paris. At the contest, Sperry demonstrated the credibility of the invention by flying the aircraft with his hands away from the controls and visible to onlookers of the contest. Elmer Sperry Jr., the son of Lawrence Sperry, and Capt Shiras continued work after the war on the same autopilot, and in 1930 they tested a more compact and reliable autopilot which kept a US Army Air Corps aircraft on a true heading and altitude for three
Sperry Marine Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine is part of Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems and, through various mergers, has built a heritage that includes Decca Radars, Sperry Marine, and C. Plath. Northrop Grumman purchased Litton Industries in April 2001 forming Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine. Sperry Marine Northrop Grumman offers a range of marine navigation products and solutions including Marine Radars, Gyrocompasses, Steering Systems, Autopilots and Integrated Bridge Systems. Sperry Marine is one of the oldest manufacturers of gyro compasses. Its founder, Elmer Ambrose Sperry, was working on the first prototype of the gyrocompass at the same time as Hermann