[Audio recording of Lear, Incorporated meeting about autopilot development]

Audio recording of a Lear, Incorporated meeting about autopilot development, circa 1950s-1960s.

Handwritten label on reel: "Lear Inc. auto pilot - WPL."

This audio recording contains a Lear Incorporated meeting about autopilot development, recorded circa 1950s-1960s. William P. Lear opens the meeting with an overview of the current development status and stresses the need to produce a reliable autopilot system at a reduced cost. Speakers then discuss technical challenges related to the manufacturing and testing of components and brainstorm possible solutions. Apart from Lear, most of the speakers are unidentified or identified only by first name. Speakers identified by their full name are Sam Auldman (possibly Sam Auld), Chet Sander, and Bob Wood. Unidentified speakers are noted in the transcript as “Unidentified Speaker (US).”

The audio quality of this recording varies considerably depending on how close the speaker is to the microphone. Dialogue may be difficult to hear in several spots due to faint audio, background noise, and overlapping speakers.