Designed and built the first gyrostabilizer to help the pilot control the airplane’s yaw, pitch and roll.
Built a high-powered anti-aircraft searchlight and a sensing device to put a plane into a glide when flying too slowly.
Received the Collier Trophy in 1914 for his gyrostabilizer achievement.
Developed other aircraft safety devices including the GyroTurn Indicator (later known as the turn and bank indicator) and an optical drift indicator which won him the 1916 Collier Trophy.
Built the first aerial torpedo in 1917 which later became the first successful guided missile.
Developed the automatic pilot, now standard equipment on all commercial, business and military aircraft worldwide.
Invented a gyroscopically stabilized bombsight, and combined his aerial gyrocompass, artificial horizon, and radio beacons to achieve the first blind flight in 1929.
The U.S. Navy named the USS Sperry in his honor.
Sperry’s devices were used in the steamship Queen Mary and in the warships of World War II.
Remembered as the father of modern navigational technology.
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Enshrined: 1973
Birth: October 12, 1860
Death: June 16, 1930
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