This aircraft was roughly comparable with the Royal Aircraft Factory's BE2, which also was a two-place military tractor biplane constructed in 1912, and which was also powered by the 70-hp Renault engine. While they may not look like much today, both the BE2 and the Burgess "Model H" marked a step in the right direction away from the rudimentary pusher designs from Wright, Curtiss and Voisin which had preceded them. They were the first airplanes that actually looked like what we would now recognize to be airplanes, and which the pilots flew while sitting inside the fuselage, rather than sitting on the wing.
Bill Deane, e-mail, 24.11.2013 22:09
Burgess Company and Curtis –Model-H –Military Tractor biplane, designed with wheeled landing gear / twin float option. Ordered by U.S. Army Feb. 10, 1912, Number built- 6, First Model H delivered July 27, 1912. SC #9 was first tractor and first aeroplane with a fuselage purchased by the U.S. Army. Price: $7,500 ea. Two place, powered by a Renault V-8, 70hp. engine, equipped with a radio transmitter and receiver with receiving/sending antennae installed in the wing structure. Span: 34’6”, Length: 27’9”, Weight: 2300lbs. Low Speed: 38-42 mph. Max. Speed: 58-72mph.Climb Rate: 180-320 fpm. This first military tractor was accepted at and flown from Marblehead by Lt. Hap Arnold, it landed at Plymouth MA for repairs, next day on a water takeoff the aircraft stalled at low altitude and was severely damaged. The aircraft was repaired locally and subsequently shipped to the Army Field at College Park, MD. All other aircraft were shipped to the Army airfield at San Diego, CA without incident. Grover Loening, the U.S. Army resident aeronautical engineer at that field subsequently modified SC# 24 and 28 and then modified the other Model H tractors after the successful test flights of SC #24. (Burgess Serial #s H-34, H-40 /H-44) U.S. Army Serial #s: SC 9, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.
tom bordelon, e-mail, 28.04.2009 04:05
this type aircraft of the first aero squadron in 1915 made the first longdistance cross country flight from Dodd Field in San Antonio(the first military airfield in the U.S.)to Texas City,Texas.Benjamin Foulois in command.
