Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Lawrence Burst Sperry Sr.

• Demonstrated his father’s gyrostabilizer in front of a large crowd at the international airplane safety competition in Paris, France on June 18th, 1914 which earned the Sperrys a 50,000 franc prize.
• Conceived of a three-way gyrostabilizer to steer bombing planes in 1915.
• Developed the first amphibious flying boat in 1915 and added lights to it to make night flights.
• Became one of the first civilians commissioned in the Navy Flying Corps Reserve before the U.S. entered World War I.
• Formed the Sperry Aircraft Company in 1917 to perfect the gyrostabilizer and other flight instruments.
• Helped develop the aerial torpedo during World War I.
• Developed a triplane amphibian in 1918 for the Navy and an improved self-contained parachute.
• Built the Sperry Messenger biplane for the Army Air Service, followed by the Verville-Sperry Racer which featured a retractable landing gear, clean wing design, and won the 1924 Pulitzer Trophy Race.
• Converted the Messenger into a private sport plane that can be kept in an ordinary garage in 1922. He later added a releasable landing gear, fuselage skids, and a top wing hook to permit in-flight refueling.