Genealogy Data Page 437 (Notes Pages)

Note: William Starling Burgess (1878-1947), known as W. Starling or Starling Burgess, was a naval architect, airplane and automobile designer, and published poet and author. He was the son of Edward Burgess (1848-1891), the naval architect and designer of three America's Cup defenders, and brother of Charles Paine Burgess, also a yacht designer and engineer. W. Starling Burgess was a well-known designer of racing yachts, including the J class boats ENTERPRISE, RAINBOW, and RANGER. By 1901 he was self-employed in yacht design and brokerage. In 1902 he became a partner in the Boston-area firm of Burgess & Packard with A. A. (Alpheus Appleton) Packard, the first of numerous partnerships formed throughout his career. By 1914 he founded a firm to manufacture airplanes and hydroplanes. In 1921 he was with the firm of Burgess & Paine with Frank C. Paine. With the addition of A. Loring Swasey in 1923 the company became Burgess, Swasey & Paine. After moving to New York he formed the partnerships of Burgess & Morgan, Ltd., and Burgess, Rigg & Morgan, Ltd., with Jasper Morgan and Linton Rigg. He also had a partnership with yacht broker Boyd Donaldson in Burgess & Donaldson, Inc.

Before he began work on the Dymaxion transport, Starling Burgess was a famous yacht designer and builder. His yachts included three Americas Cup winners. He was also an aeroplane designer -- he built the Wright brothers’ planes under license, and designed seaplanes including the Burgess-Dunne Flying Boat for the US Navy. He is also, somewhat bizarrely, rumoured to be the inventor of Times New Roman font.

It is not known when Burgess first came into contact with R. Buckminster Fuller. There is a possibility that they met in the U.S. navy during World War I (Lieutenant Commander Burgess was placed in charge of U.S. Navy Seaplane design on December 15, 1917).

Whether or not they were old navy buddies, Burgess had worked on the streamlined fairing for Fuller's ten-deck 4D tower in 1927, subjected to extensive wind-tunnel tests. He also worked on the central mast for the Dymaxion house between 1927 and 1929.

Starling Burgess in Dymaxion headquarters, Bridgeport Connecticut, July 1933. Source: Marks, Dymaxion World of R. Buckminster Fuller

Burgess at the wheel of the first experimental chassis, 1933. Source: Marks, Dymaxion World of R. Buckminster Fuller

Burgess is, in some ways, the unsung hero of the saga of the dymaxion car. According to Jay Baldwin, "Burgess did all of the engineering and most of the design work once the basic layout of the car was determined by RBF ... It appears likely that Burgess made all of the calculations and hard engineering" (personal communication).The final design of the Dymaxion car, with its wooden-ribs and nautical interior, owed much to Burgess's experience with yacht design.

It was Burgess who courageously tested the first chassis built in Bridgeport, just six weeks after work had begun. When, during the test, the car developed uncontrollable steering oscillations, similar to the "death wobble" feared by motorcyclists, Burgess redesigned the chassis so that the back wheel would no longer lean on turns, making it remain vertical at all times.

The personal life of Burgess was more complicated. During work on the building of the Dymaxion car, he had an affair with one of the sponsors of the project, the famous aviatrix Nannie Biddle (also romantically involved with Fuller) resulting in a brief marriage (Burgess's fourth of a grand total of five).

According to a recent biographer of Burgess's daughter, the author/illustrator Tasha Tudor:

His tempestuous affairs, marriages, and divorces — unfortunately connected to his social and professional circles — created additional problems, including bankruptcy and several contemplated suicides, and were definite factors in his never achieving financial success or the acclaim he so desired and, given his brilliance in both yachting and aviation, probably deserved. Physically he suffered from a severe, long undiagnosed gastric ulcer, which contributed to decades of near addiction to morphine.

Pioneering aviation work of Starling Burgess, whose Marblehead airplane factory produced some of the most innovative airplanes and sea-planes of the early 20th-century.

Although he is best remembered as a yacht designer, Starling Burgess became interested in the emerging field of aviation. He studied with the Wright Brothers, and in 1910, built “The Flying Fish”, noted for making the first flight in New England.

William J. Deane, President and Journal Editor of the Massachusetts Aviation Historical Society characterizes Burgess as “a highly successful aviation innovator and businessman.” He credits Burgess’ success to his genius for bringing together the best management and investment partners to successfully realize his original designs and to achieve his ambitious business plan.

In the 1930s, Burgess went on to design three America’s Cup defenders, and worked with Buckminster Fuller on the experimental Dymaxion automobile. “Burgess’ interest in scientific experimentation allowed him to move rather deftly between yacht design, airplane design and auto design,” adds Deane.

Augustus Moore Herring established his credentials as an aviation pioneer in the 1890s. He experimented with gliders and collaborated with leading aviation figure, Octave Chanute. The 1896 Chanute-Herring biplane glider was among the most significant pre-Wright aircraft. Herring built a powered version of one of his gliders in 1898 that was powered by a compressed-air engine. The craft lifted off the ground a few inches and traveled a short distance, but it was not a controlled, sustained flight. Herring was only attempting to get credit for having technically made the first powered flight, as his design could in no way be developed into a true airplane.

Herring worked with several recognized aeronautical experimenters of the period, Chanute, Samuel P. Langley, and Glenn H. Curtiss. These collaborations were brief and often turbulent, however, because Herring was considered troublesome and unreliable. His association with Curtiss ended with a lawsuit in 1911.

Following his abortive partnership with Curtiss, Herring went into business with W. Starling Burgess, owner of a shipyard in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and builder of small boats and racing craft. Burgess held a degree in engineering and architecture from Harvard and had become interested in aviation. To the partnership with Herring he contributed his shipyard facilities and his engineering skills.

The first product of the Herring-Burgess collaboration was the Model A biplane, which was exhibited at the first Boston Aero Show that opened on February 16, 1910. Although the Model A had yet to fly, it gained media attention because of its exquisite workmanship, a testament to Burgess and his boat builders.

The Herring-Burgess Model A had a central skid with smaller skids positioned on either side, no wheels. The biplane elevator was positioned in front and was actuated by a foot pedal. It had no ailerons and was steered by the rudder alone. Lateral stability was maintained by the placement of six triangular fins on the top of the upper wing, which resulted in the airplane being called the "Flying Fish." The rudder and horizontal stabilizer were in the rear and the pilot was seated on the leading edge of the lower wing. There was no provision for a passenger. The aircraft was powered by a 25-horsepower Curtiss four-cylinder engine, turning a four-blade propeller.

On February 28, 1910, the Model A made its inaugural flight with Augustus Herring at the controls. The aircraft took off on skids from the ice on the frozen surface of Chabacco Lake and flew about 110 m (360 ft), reaching an altitude of 9 m (30 ft).

The original Model A was sold shortly after its first flight and Herring and Burgess proceeded at once to design a new version. This aircraft incorporated a few changes that included the placement of eight fins on the top wing instead of six, and replacement of the foot pedal that operated the elevator with a stick controlled by the pilot's right hand. The pilot's left hand turned a small wheel that controlled the rudder. The power plant and four-blade propeller remained the same as on the earlier design.

The revised Model A was ferried from Marblehead to nearby Plum Island on the Burgess yacht and test-flown by Herring in the very early morning of April 17, 1910. Herring's first flight of 122 m (400 ft) was followed by a flight of 23 m (75 ft), this time with Burgess as pilot. Herring made several flights in the days that followed and then terminated his association with Burgess shortly thereafter, perhaps as a result of the appearance at Plum Island of Greely S. Curtis, a Harvard-educated engineer and pilot. After Herring's departure, Burgess formed a new company with Curtis.

Curtis flew the revised Model A on April 23 and damaged the airplane during his first attempt to land. Curtis was thrown clear of the airplane, but he was not injured. After repairs the aircraft was flown by a new pilot, William H. Hilliard. After numerous flights in early May, Hilliard managed to extend the flight distance to 0.8 km (0.5 mi).

The Herring-Burgess airplane was sold to Joseph C. Shoemaker sometime in 1910 or early 1911. Shoemaker, along with Fred C. Cannonhouse, modified the Herring-Burgess design by eliminating the fins on the upper wing and removing the forward elevator. The landing gear was also rebuilt.

Shoemaker soloed his modified Herring-Burgess Model A on June 3, 1911, and by August, the airplane was capable of executing basic flight maneuvers, including circles and figure 8s, in addition to achieving distances up to 14.5 km (9 mi), altitudes up to 30 m (100 ft), and flight durations of ten minutes. After a crash on September 2, 1911, which resulted in slight damage, the airplane does not appear to have been flown again. The Herring-Burgess biplane was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the Shoemaker estate in February 1961.