the burgess model i was placed into service as signal corps number 17 (s.c. no. 17) in january 1913 to complete the training of lieutenants loren h. call and eric l. ellington at palm beach, florida. following this assignment it was disassembled and shipped by sea to the philippine aviation school near manila, arriving in the first week of september. when it was uncrated for assembly, it was found to have been damaged so severely in transit that both its upper and lower wings needed replacing. 2d lt. herbert a. dargue, a coast artillery officer trained as a pilot at the philippine aviation school, was detailed october 18 to fly the plane, based on the beach at san jose on the south side of corregidor in manila bay. after it was placed back into service in november 1913, it was found that center-of-gravity problems with its front-and-back seating arrangement and heavy pontoons made it incapable of taking off with two persons aboard. dargue continued one-man operations and with a coast artillery officer devised a primitive method of signaling with small parachutes and a very pistol to indicate misses.