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San Diego, California. In December[[,]] 1919, [[circled]]Lt.[[/circled]] [[Lieutenant]] Burns, U.S. Naval Reserve, flew a Curtiss Model MF flying boat, owned by the Sid Chaplain Aircraft Corporation of Los Angeles, in the 1919 Curtiss Marine Trophy event. On December 31st, he flew 650 miles in [[strikethrough]]9[[/strikethrough]] [[nine]] hours, [[strikethrough]]10[[/strikethrough]] [[ten]] minutes at San Pedro. This did not quite win the duration event but was indeed a fine day's effort.

In 1922 Burns was flying for Pacific Marine Airways on a service between Los Angeles and Cataline Island using a flying boat. In 1925 he carried passengers for the season at Avalon Bay, California, using a 3-place[[,]] Hispano-Suiza-powered[[,]] Curtiss flying boat. In 1929 he became one of the founding members of the Early Birds.

In 1936 Burns was chief of the TWA West Coast pilots. At that time he was living in Glendale, California. In 1945 he moved to Banning, California, where he lived for the remainder of his life. In 1948 he was with the Air Carrier Branch of the Civil Aeronautics Administration where he remained until retirement. He passed away on May 19, 1970 in Banning hospital following an extended illness, at age 77. He was survived by his wife and a sister. Cremation followed his burial service. He was a World War I veteran and member of the Masonic Lodge.

Flying pioneer, Early Bird Arthur C. Burns made many valuable contributions to American aviation history. Plane builder, self-taught pilot, World War I naval aviator[[-]]officer, barnstormer airline pilot and Federal Aviation Safety Inspector, it is claimed he had 12,000 hours of flying time.


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