The Sperry Messenger was an American single-seat biplane designed by

Alfred V. Verville Alfred Victor Verville (November 16, 1890 – March 10, 1970) was an American aviation pioneer and aircraft designer who contributed to civilian and military aviation. During his forty-seven years in the aviation industry, he was responsibl ...

working for the

Engineering Division The Engineering Division was a division of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps in the United States Department of War. It was formed on 31 August 1918, under the direction of Lt Col Jesse G. Vincent, to study and design American versions of f ...

of the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

(USAAS) and built under contract by Sperry Aircraft Company of Farmingdale, New York. The aircraft was later designated the M-1 and MAT by the USAAS. Sperry produced approximately 50 Messengers and the civilian two-seat version, the Sport Plane, between 1920 and 1926. The aircraft was the first to make contact between an airplane and an airship while in flight.

Development

In 1921

led the Engineering Division of the USAAS's design of a simple single-seat biplane to be used as a messenger aircraft to replace motorcycles. The aircraft was built by the Sperry Aircraft Company as the Sperry Messenger. The Messenger was a conventional biplane with a fixed tailskid landing gear and a nose-mounted 60 hp (45 kW)

Lawrance L-4 The Lawrance L-3 and L-4 were early aircraft piston engines with three radial cylinders, designed and built by the Lawrance Aero Engine Company in the early 1920s. The L-3 / L-4 series were marketed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation as the W ...

radial engine. In 1924 the military aircraft were given USAAS designations M-1, M-1A and MAT. Lawrence Sperry gained attention when he landed his personal Messenger in front of the Capitol building and bounced up the front steps in Washington D.C. (See photo below.) He also successfully landed his little Messenger at the Lincoln Memorial. The prototype was used by

Lawrence Sperry Lawrence Burst Sperry (21 December 1892, Chicago, Illinois, United States – December 13, 1923, English Channel) was an aviation pioneer who invented the autopilot and the artificial horizon. Biography He was the third son of the gyrocompa ...

who disappeared in 1923, flying a Messenger across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Operational history

The Messenger's small size, simple construction, and inexpensive cost made it ideal for testing and experimentation. As well as the original communications duties, the

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...

used one in its pioneering aerodynamic research programs from 1923 to 1929. Sperry modified twelve into the radio-controlled Messenger Aerial Torpedo, an early

flying bomb A flying bomb is a manned or unmanned aerial vehicle or aircraft carrying a large explosive warhead, a precursor to contemporary cruise missiles. In contrast to a bomber aircraft, which is intended to release bombs and then return to its base for ...

, and developed the apparatus for a Messenger to make the first successful airship hook on and release in December 1924. On December 15, at Scott Field, Illinois, Lt. Clyde Finter hooked on to a trapeze attached to a non-rigid airship, the

TC-3 The TC-3 and the TC-7 were the two US Army Corps non-rigid blimps used for parasite fighter trials conducted in 1923–24. A single Sperry Messenger The Sperry Messenger was an American single-seat biplane designed by Alfred V. Verville workin ...

. In the Messenger, Finter remained attached briefly while the airship made a turn, then he unhooked and landed the aircraft on the ground.

Variants

;Messenger :Sperry designation, 42 built later given USAAS designations M-1, M-1A and MAT. ;M-1 :Messengers used in communications duties, 26 built and known by the USAAS as the Verville-Sperry M-1NASM Article on Verville-Sperry M-1
Note: Make sure to click on "View Long Description" for information on official name ;M-1A :Messengers with increased fuel capacity, 16 built. ;MAT :Messengers used as aerial torpedoes (Messenger Aerial Torpedo), eight conversions.

Operators

; *

Specifications (M-1)

Gallery

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *

External links

Cradle of Aviation Museum

(see section titled The Case of the Sperry Messenger) {{lone designation, system= USAAS Messenger 1919-1924, designation=M-1 1920s United States military utility aircraft Verville aircraft

Messenger ''MESSENGER'' was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geoche ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1921 Parasite aircraft