Lawrence Sperry

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Lawrence Sperry 1913

Lawrence Burst Sperry (December 22, 1892 – December 23, 1923?), was an aviation pioneer.

Sperry was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He was the third son of Zula and Elmer Ambrose Sperry. He gained international attention and acclaim in 1914, when he demonstrated the use of his invention, the autopilot, on an airplane in France. His body was found in the English Channel on January 11, 1924; he had taken off for France from the United Kingdom on December 23, 1923, amid fog, and never reached his destination.

He is also proclaimed to be the founder of the Mile High Club. In November of 1916, he reportedly was engaged in sexual activity with a woman while he was flying in his Curtiss flying boat over Babylon, New York, when they crashed (non-fatally) into the water. His status as founder of the club is a retrospective honor derived from the fact that he is the first person reported to have engaged in aerial sexual activity, and from his association with the development of the autopilot at Sperry Corporation. It is not a literal honor since they crashed from an altitude of only 500 feet, and also because the term "Mile High Club" was not in use at the time.