Milo Burcham

2025-09-22T08:34:00Z

86.16.95.200: Moved image to infobox

{{short description|American aviator}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox aviator
| name = Milo Burcham
| image = Milo Burcham.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|05|24}}
| birth_place = Cadiz, Indiana, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|10|20|1903|05|24}}
| death_place = Burbank, California, U.S.
| death_cause = Aircraft crash
| resting_place = Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California
| resting_place_coordinates =
| monuments =
| education = O'Donnell School of Aviation
| spouse =
| relatives =
| known_for = Stunt pilot, airshow pilot, test pilot; inverted flight endurance record; first flight of the Constellation; first flight of the XP-80
}}

[[Image:Milo-Burcham XP-80 gov.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Clarence Johnson|Clarence “Kelly” Johnson]] (right) congratulates Milo Burcham on the successful first flight of the [[P-80 Shooting Star|XP-80 Shooting Star]].]]

'''Milo Garrett Burcham''' (May 24, 1903 – October 20, 1944) was an American [[aviator]]. He worked as a [[Stunt performer|stunt pilot]], airshow pilot, and [[test pilot]].

Burcham was born in [[Cadiz, Indiana|Cadiz]], [[Indiana]], and grew up in [[Whittier, California]] in the eastern [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] basin. Burcham sold [[burglar alarm]]s of his own design to finance flying lessons from the [[O'Donnell School of Aviation]] in [[Long Beach, California]], where he became chief instructor. In 1933, Burcham and Lt. Tito Falconi of the Italian Air Service competed in setting inverted flight endurance records. Burcham's flight of 4 h 5 min 22 s flying in circles over Long Beach, California that December was not broken until July 24, 1991 when U.S. airshow pilot [[Joann Osterud]] set a new world's record of 4 h 38 min 10 s. In 1936, Burcham flew his [[Boeing P-12|Boeing 100]] to the World's [[Aerobatic Championship]] at the National Air Races in Los Angeles.

In 1941, Burcham joined [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]] as a production test pilot and spent a year as chief pilot of Lockheed's operations in England. He became chief engineering test pilot a few years later, and in that capacity was served as copilot on the first flight of the [[Lockheed Constellation|Constellation]] on January 8, 1943. On January 9, 1944, he turned the first flight of ''Lulu-Belle'', the [[P-80 Shooting Star|XP-80]] prototype, into a thrilling low-level airshow before a crowd of military and civilian VIPs at [[Muroc Army Air Base]] (now Edwards AFB).

On October 20, 1944 Burcham was flying the third production prototype YP-80 from [[Lockheed Air Terminal]] in [[Burbank, California]]. The engine flamed-out on takeoff due to a main fuel pump failure and the airplane crashed one mile west of the terminal, killing him.<ref>Associated Press, “Lockheed’s Chief Test Pilot Killed in Crash”, ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Saturday 21 October 1944, Volume 51, page 1.</ref>

He is buried in [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]].

==References==
{{Commons category}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burcham, Milo}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in California]]
[[Category:American test pilots]]
[[Category:Aviators from Indiana]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:Lockheed people]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944]]
[[Category:Victims of flight test accidents]]

Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Milo Burcham