Autopilot
system to maintain vehicle trajectory in lieu of direct operator command
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft without requiring constant intervention by a human operator. The autopilot does not replace human operators, but it assists them allowing them to focus on broader aspects of operations (for example, monitoring the trajectory, weather and on-board systems).
When present, an autopilot is often used in conjunction with an autothrottle, a system for controlling the power delivered by the engines.
First autopilots
In the early days of aviation, aircraft required the continuous attention of a pilot to fly safely. As aircraft range increased, allowing flights of many hours, the constant attention led to serious fatigue. An autopilot is designed to perform some of the pilot's tasks.
The first gyroscopic autopilot for aircraft was developed by Sperry Corporation in 1912. The system connected a gyroscopic heading indicator and attitude indicator to hydraulically operated elevators and rudder. It permitted the aircraft to fly straight and level on a compass course without a pilot's attention, greatly reducing the pilot's workload.
Lawrence Sperry, the son of famous inventor Elmer Sperry, demonstrated it in 1914 at an aviation safety contest held in Paris.
The public source identifies “Autopilot” as system to maintain vehicle trajectory in lieu of direct operator command. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Autopilot, system and maintain.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q220858. The Library of Congress control number is sh85010104. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1912 and 1914.
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This entry incorporates text from “Autopilot” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.