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
Charles Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence of Kingsgate Charles Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence of Kingsgate Charles Napier Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence of Kingsgate (27 May 1855 – 17 December 1927), styled The Honourable Charles Lawrence between 1869 and 1923, was a British businessman and railway executive. Lawrence was born in India, the third son of John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, and Harriette Katherine Hamilton , daughter of Reverend Richard Hamilton. John Lawrence, 2nd Baron Lawrence, and Henry Arnold Lawrence were his brothers. He was educated at Marlborough College. Lawrence was Chairman of the London and North Western Railway from 1921 to 1923 and of the London, Midland and