WAR SECRET OUT
AUTOMATIC PILOT DEVICE
NEW YORK, September 21. The army air force has disclosed details of a hitherto well-guarded military secret, an electronically-controlled automatic pilot which takes over the plane on bombing runs, with greater precision at a high altitude. The electronic device reduces pilot fatigue and makes bombing easier and more effective. Roughly speaking, the autopilot in effect provides an artificial tripod to hold the aircraft on the bull'seye when the bombs are released.
An air force spokesman said that the enemy now knew the essential facts of this invention because some planes carrying the new equipment had been lost. A Flying Fortress which was almost cut in two by a Messerschmitt when the pilot's manual control cables connected to the rudder and elevators were severed, was flown safely home on the auto-pilot because the control surface motor of the electronic system which are located in the tail escaped damage in the mid-air crash.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 72, 22 September 1943, Page 5
Word Count
157WAR SECRET OUT Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 72, 22 September 1943, Page 5
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