On the History of Early Aircraft Automatic Stability Control Systems

The article proposes a classification and description of the principles of operation of automatic stability control systems of aircrafts of the world in the period prior to the outbreak of WWI, and clarifies priorities in this field. The aircrafts employed the systems based on pendulum sensors, aerodynamic sensors, automatic thrust vector changes, and gyroscopic sensors. It is noted that, because of the outbreak of the First World War, the experiments associated with creating automatic stability systems had to be stopped and the focus was shifted to building mass combat vehicles. The next stage in the development of these systems began only in the 1920s.