Classified as the "Model H military tractor", it was developed and built in 1912 by Burgess Company and Curtis, which in 1914 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 its initial Burgess Model H as Signal Corps No. 9 in August 1912, then five more of the Loening design for the
1st Aero Squadron at
North Field,
California between November 1913 and July 1914. They were the 24th through 28th aircraft acquired by the Army. A seventh Model H went to the
U.S. Navy, where it was known first as the D-2 and later as the AB-7 (Heavier-than-air/flying boat, model 7). ==Operators==