How Plane Autopilot Works and How It Continues to Evolve | ConTECHtual | NowThis

Believe it or not, there's a pretty good chance that both the pilot and co-pilot have fallen asleep during your flight. Here's a look at autopilot technology and how autopilot works.
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How does autopilot work? How does plane autopilot work specifically? How has autopilot technology evolved throughout the years and how is autopilot evolving today? And what does autopilot tech even look like? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.

According to a survey of Airbus and Boeing pilots, pilots only manually fly about 3-6 minutes per flight; the rest is just autopilot. So why do we trust autopilot technology so much?

There have been a few reported plane crashes in the past in which human pilots have had to take control, such as Captain Sullenberger's Miracle on the Hudson.

In this episode of ConTECHtual, we're taking a look back at the history of autopilot for planes and examining how autopilot technology has evolved throughout the years.

On June 18th, 1914, Lawrence Sperry, one of the first licensed pilots in the U.S. to test autopilot, flew a Curtiss C-2 biplane over a crowd of astonished onlookers as he held his hands up in the air — showing autopilot in action! How did the Curtiss C-2 maintain stability and control? From a device called a gyroscopic stabilizer — watch the full episode for more on that.

FUN FACT: Sperry is also credited as a founding member of the 'Mile High Club.' Yep.

Sperry was able to successful test how does autopilot work for aircrafts and since then autopilot has come a long way. But it's safe to say we can all agree that we shouldn't fully rely on autopilot when there are so many lives at stake.

#Science #Technology #Future #ConTECHtual

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