Abstract
A U.S. Air Force “Skymaster” transport aircraft flew from Stephenville, Newfoundland, to Brize Norton R.A.F. Station in Oxfordshire, on September 22, a distance of 2,400 miles across the Atlantic, including taking off and landing, without being controlled in any way by the crew on board. The machine was commanded by Colonel J. N. Gillespie of the U.S. Air Force, and carried a number of scientific observers as well as the normal crew. The apparatus automatically controls the take-off and climb to an arranged height. It then homes on a beam sent out by a radio beacon. In this case these came from two successive ships on the way across, and then from Brize Norton. Finally, it sets the machine into the required glide, lands and brakes. In the United States the system is understandably described as ‘push button flying’.
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Automatic Control on Atlantic Flight. Nature 160, 461 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160461a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160461a0