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good enough, however, as Oscar Brindley won the event with a distance of 554 miles. Morris was awarded the Aero Club of America Medal or Merit in later 1915 for his altitude records and noteworthy flights in the Curtiss Marine Trophy competition.
Morris remained on the staff of Curtiss instructor-pilots at San Diego over the winter of 1915-1916 and there on March 22, 1916, obtained his Expert Pilot License, No. 47. That winter his long-time able assistant, Robert Simon, took the flying course at North Island and went on to renown as a pilot himself. in the early spring of 1916 Morris made a daring flight over the Otay and Tijuana valley areas to determine the extent of property damage after a dam had burst. From his flying boat he witnessed indescribable destruction, wrecked and devastated houses and ranch buildings, uprooted trees and washed out bridges, and returned to bring San Diego the first news of what had happened. He continued as Chief pilot and Manager of the Curtiss Company operations in California through the 1016 season until late that year when the Curtiss Company closed the North Island Base and Flying School and the government took over the operations for a Signal Corps Aviation School. Morris then purchaed the Curtiss equipment there which he resold on the civilian market.
As the war clouds of World War I thickened in the spring of 1917, Morris offered his services to the Army Signal Corps Aviation Section but was rejected due to disabilities caused by a previous plane crash. He did serve in a civilian capacity, however, and also continued as West Coast representative for the Curtiss Company through 1918. Morris later became affiliated with the Aeronautics Division of Walter Kidde & Co. and resided for many years at Coronado, California. He was also official observer of aircraft equipment for the United States Navy on many peacetime maneuvers. In 1913 he was commissioned Lt. Commander, U.S. Naval Reserve. During this time Morris had established a business at San Diego, where he passed away suddenly on July 6, 1943, at age 54.
Early Bird, Flying Pioneer Raymond V. Morris deserves great credit for his many contributions to the pioneering days of American aviation history. As an active expert pilot he became one of a small group of stalwarts who steadfastly
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Transcription Notes:
purchased misspelled in article. Transcribed with the spelling mistake