Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane

Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane
Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane in 1918
General information
TypeMissile
National originUnited States
Designer
StatusDevelopment discontinued
Primary userUnited States Navy
Number built7 Curtiss Model N-based prototypes
6 Curtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb prototypes
History
First flightSeptember 1917
Developed fromCurtiss Model N

The Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane was a project undertaken during World War I to develop a flying bomb, or pilotless aircraft capable of carrying explosives to its target. It is considered by some to be a precursor of the cruise missile. It was funded by the US Navy and created by Elmer Sperry.