Background
Burcham was born in Cadiz, Indiana, and grew up in Whittier, California in the eastern Los Angeles basin.
aviator instructor pilot chief
Burcham was born in Cadiz, Indiana, and grew up in Whittier, California in the eastern Los Angeles basin.
He worked as a stunt pilot, airshow pilot, and test pilot. Burcham sold burglar alarms 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 Lieutenant
Tito Falconi of the Italian Air Service competed in setting inverted flight endurance records.
Burcham"s flight of 4 h 5 minimum 22 s that December was not broken until July 24, 1991 when United States. airshow pilot Joanne Osterud set a new world"s record of 4 h 38 minimum 10 son In 1936, Burcham flew his Boeing 100 to the World"s Aerobatic Championship at the National Air Races in Los Los Angeles
In 1941, Burcham joined 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 Constellation on January 8, 1943.
On January 9, 1944, he turned the first flight of Lulu-Belle, the XP-80 prototype, into a thrilling low-level airshow before a crowd of military and civilian VIPs at Muroc Army Air Base (now Edwards Air Force Base).
On October 20, 1944 Burcham was killed in the flame-out on take-off of the engine of third production prototype YP-80 from Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California. Burcham is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.