AERONAUTICS: Sperry Drowned

Lawrence B. Sperry was a son of Elmer Sperry, famed inventor of many gyroscopic appliances. Scarcely 30, he had achieved a reputation almost equal to that of his father. In 1914 in France, he won a 10,000-franc prize, flying a plane so stabilized by the Sperry automatic pilot, that a mechanic walked out on the wing while the pilot left the machine entirely to its own control. The first man to loop a hydroplane, the first to instal a radio set in an airplane, he was carving a brilliant career as a designer and builder of aircraft. His Messenger (a tiny single seater) came into most general use in the Army Air Service. Sperry used it to commute between his home and factory on Long Island. On a recent visit to England, his electioneering by plane for Lloyd George attracted general attention. True to his profession, and his convictions, he planned to make his business trips on the Continent and his Channel-crossing by air. Leaving Pett (near Rye on the South Coast of England) last week, he was seen to fly to sea in perfect weather, to turn back when his engine started missing, then to fly to sea again. This decision probably cost him his life. The plane was seen to crumple and fall. It has been found minus the motor, but the closest search has revealed no trace of the aviator. Mrs. Winifred Sperry has seen her husband survive so many hazardous experiences, thanks to his daring and skill as a pilot, that she still hopes the aviator may be found, but with each passing day the certainty of an irreparable loss to American aeronautics becomes greater.