††††The autopilot was invented in 1914 by Elmer Ambrose Sperry. However, it did not enter commercial use until the 1930s, and it was not until 1947 that an aeroplane crossed the Atlantic on autopilot.
The modern autopilot is a computer used on long flights to control the aircraft automatically. The pilots simply monitor progress to make sure that the flight is going according to plan. The autopilot can even land the aircraft safely.
