Elmer Sperry developed the Stallemometer as a follow-on component to the first successful aircraft autopilot, demonstrated by Sperry in 1914. The Stallemometer detected a stall flutter and then function as a switch to drop the nose by twenty degrees through the autopilot until a stall recovery occurred. A light provided a further warning that the stall had occurred and a recovery was underway. Like the autopilot itself, the Stallemometer was not seen by aviators as a desirable innovation due to cost, weight, complexity and its subsuming of pilot control over the flight. Such systems did enjoy a resurgance fifty years later as increasing levels of autopilot autonomy became standard on larger transport aircraft.
Display Status
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Date
1915
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
AVIONICS-Autopilots
Manufacturer
The Sperry Gyroscope Co.
Physical Description
1.5 inches diameter, 3.5 inches long; gray metal; streamlined, strut mount.
Dimensions
Approximate (grey object): 5.1 × 59.7 × 8.3cm (2 × 23 1/2 × 3 1/4 in.)
Approximate (black object): 7 × 4.4 × 14cm (2 3/4 × 1 3/4 × 5 1/2 in.)
Materials
Copper Alloys
Non-Magnetic Metal Alloy
Glass
Natural Fabric
Inventory Number
A19300012000
Credit Line
Gift of the Sperry Gyroscope Company
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Open Access (CCO)
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