Vernon L. Burge
| Vernon Lee Burge | |
|---|---|
Vernon Burge
|
|
| Born | November 29, 1888 |
| Died | September 6, 1971 (aged 82) |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps U.S. Army Air Service U.S. Army Air Corps
|
| Years of service | 1907–1942 |
| Rank |
 Colonel
|
| Commands held | 6th Bombardment Group |
Vernon Lee Burge (November 29, 1888 – September 6, 1971) was an aviation pioneer. He was the first American enlisted man to be certified as a military pilot. After ten years as an enlisted man, Burge was commissioned during World War I and served the next 25 years as an officer.
He was born on November 29, 1888.
In the autumn of 1907, Private First Class Vernon Burge was assigned to Fort Myer, Virginia, to join the newly formed Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps under Captain Charles deForest Chandler. At that time, the Aeronautical Division was composed of only three officers, ten enlisted men and one female civilian clerk. There was to have been an eleventh enlisted man, but he deserted after learning of his assignment. At first, the unit trained in the military use of balloons.
While Burge was stationed there in August 1909, the Wright Brothers brought to Fort Myer the first fixed-wing aircraft purchased by the U.S. Army, a variant of the Wright Model A termed the Wright Military Flyer and designated by the Signal Corps as "Signal Corps (S.C.) No. 1". Burge worked as a member of the ground crew for the aircraft, and trained in its technology.
On December 16, 1909, Burge transferred to Company H, Signal Corps, traveling in February 1910 to Fort Sam Houston, Texas to serve under Lieutenant Benjamin Foulois as one of ten enlisted mechanics repairing the frequently damaged S.C. No. 1. Along with Glenn Madole and a civilian mechanic in August 1910, Burge contrived a way to fasten three wheels to the aircraft so that its skids would not be damaged as much upon landing. Crude as it was, this was the first tricycle landing gear on an aircraft. Foulois' initial reaction was negative: "One of the unpleasant features of landing on wheels is the difficulty experienced in stopping the machine." However, the wheels saved the aircraft from more frequent repair, and subsequent aircraft models incorporated wheels.
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