A Historical Review of Autopilot Development, Research, and Theory in Germany

Abstract

German flight-control development began with directional control. Damping gyros, measuring the angular velocity, were already used in the first systems. Servo-loops were formed including feedback devices as well as controllers without feedback, which proved to be satisfactory too. Finally integrating-gyros and electrical servomechanisms were put together for systems with outstanding performance capabilities. Among the many engineers acting in this field only a few distinguished themselves by producing ideas. Their names are documented here.