Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-07
CONTINUED
BY ROBOT" PILOT
Generator Repaired, MeChan-
icaI Device Guides Plane
From Here to Long Island.

Mechanician physicians last night
doctored the robot pilot" newest ar
rival in the ranks of Army aviators,
and early this morning the little box
which yesterday proved 1t could pilot
a plane in straight. level flight as well
as any aviator, was "well' enough to
pilot It's charge, a tri-motored Army
transport, from Boiling Field to Mitchell
Field, Long Island.
The robot pilot" its power plant out
of commission, arrived in Washington
for the first time yesterday afternoon,
after q flight from Dayton, Ohio, in
which it did most of the work Of keep
ing the ship. on true and level course
The mechanical plane plotting device
invention of Elmer A. Sperry, developer
of other gyroscopic devices, took charge
of the transports controls shortly after
the plane took the air this morning and
piloted it to the Long Island landing
field The plane was taken of by Mai
A. H. Gilkeson of Wright Field, Dayton
who also landed 1t at its Long Island
destination. At Mitchell Field the
EUDOb Will Dc given 1uLtLACA ICSIo hAlO
demonstrated for Army aviators.
Generator Is Repaired.
The transport arrived in Washington
yesterday afternoon with Maj. Gilkeson
at the controls, after the mechanical
pilots power plant, q wind-driven
generator mounted on the plane, had
gone out of commission near Leesburg
Va. Up to that time the mechanical
pilot had had complete charge of the
plane and piloted it safely on its way
Only slight repairs were necessary to
put the device in order and these were
made at Boiling Field last night while
the transports crew spent the night in
the Capital
Up to the time of the failure of the
generator yesterday afternoon the
mechanical pilot functioned perfectly
it is reported by the Army flyers who
are accompanying the little box on its
flights. Once on the flight, they report
it took the big plane safely and evenly
through fog hank. Unequal, however,
in its present stage of development. to
landing and taking off, these services
were performed for the robot aviator
by the human element" aboard.
More sensitive to changes in flying
conditions, and lacking the human
mechanical pilot guides the plane
through the air more surely, more
steadily. than any human pilot. 1t
needs only human brains to direct its
work, to check it's operat tions, and,
occasionally human help when sudden
gusts of wind drive the ship from its
course.
Device Weighs 50 Pounds.
Its mechanism is housed in a box IA
by Ia by 10 inches, which can be placed
beneath the pilots seat of plane. The
mechanism consists principally of two
horoscopes, one mounted vertically and
the other horizontally, which, by electric
contacts, operate the major controls of
the plane, the rudder for direction, the
elevator for maintenance of level alti-
tude and the aerolons for keeping the
ship on an even keel With these con-
trolls constantly under the mechanical
pilots care in flight. the airplane is
sensitive, 1t Is claimed, to a movement
of one-half of l degree about its axis
The average human pilot Is reported fac
less sensitive.
1t has been under so hours of tests,
in all sorts of weather, on flights be-
tween New York and New Bedford
Mass, and between New York and Day.
ton. The Army's experiments with 1t
have been under the direction of Lieut.
Albert F. Hegenberger Of California-to-
Hawaii flight fame.
Eighteen years have been spent in the
development of the mechanical pilot
1t was with device of this order that
Lawrence Sperry, son of the inventor, IN
1914 won a safety in flight" prize Of
! 10000 francs. Young Sperry later was
killed in the English Channel.
In the plane when it arrived at
Boiling Field yesterday afternoon were
MIR: Sperry, Lieut.. Hegenberger, Mai
Gilkeson. chief of the equipment branch
at Wright Field, and Capt. Cyrus A.
Blair of the Army Air Corps, one of the
| developers of the device.
The value of the device for getting
transport pilots through fog banks on
an even keel and for night flying is in
estimahle, its designers claim. For all
| flying 1t offers the pilot relief from the
every-minute watchfulness that is ncc-
essary in croSs-country flying as 1t is
known today.