Burgess H replica - Texas City, TX - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The Burgess H was an early airplane and possibly the first air machine specifically designed and built for military use. Classified as the "Model H military tractor", it was developed and built in 1912 by Burgess Company and Curtis, which in the following year became The Burgess Company.

Powered by a 70 hp Renault engine with the propeller in the tractor configuration, the biplane trainer had tandem open cockpits after a redesign in 1914 by Grover Loening, then a civilian engineer with the U.S. Army. Loening was the first person to receive an advanced engineering degree in aeronautics, from Columbia University in 1910, and later was a founding member of both Sturtevant Aircraft Company and Loening Aircraft Engineering.

The Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps purchased five Burgess H airplanes for the 1st Aero Squadron at North Field, California. They were the 24th through 28th aircraft acquired by the Army. A sixth Model H went to the U.S. Navy, where it was known first as the D-1 (Burgess Flying Boat, Model 1) and later as the AB-7 (Heavier-than-air/flying boat, model 7).

The First Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army was established in August of 1907. The Wright Brothers designed and tested the first military plane delivered to the Army, which met specifications of being able to fly 40 miles per hour, remain aloft for one hour with a crew of two, and be transportable in a four-wheeled, mule driven wagon. The contract with the Wrights also included training of two officers in the "handling and operation of this flying machine."

Although an aviation school was established in College Park, Maryland, and experimental flights were conducted in west Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, California, and the Philippines, the Signal Corps did not establish the First Aero Squadron until the spring of 1913, when the Second Division was encamped at Texas City.

Here, on an airfield located on the land now part of Bay Street Park, the early aviators with the U.S Army experimented with nine of the Army's Planes for a period of ten months (March 2 through November 28th, 1913.) Eight flying officers, one doctor, and twenty-one enlisted men composed the Aero Squadron, commanded by Captain Charles Deforest Chandler.

Here, flight records for speed and distance were set. Among those young officers assigned to Texas City was Lieutenant Eric Ellington, for whom Ellington Air force Base, south of Houston, is named.

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Burgess H Construction:: replica Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Bay Street park inside / outside: outside Tail Number: (S/N): Not listed Other Information:: Not listed Access restrictions: Not listed

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