On December 26, 1939, Second Lieutenant Robert W. Burns arrived at Cristóbal, Panama, disembarking from an Army transport ship after six days at sea from Charleston. He was 23 years old, had just been commissioned a month earlier, and was about to begin three years of over-water patrol flying that would take him from the Atlantic side of the Canal Zone to Guatemala City — flying B-18 Bolos over the Caribbean, then B-17Bs above the Pacific, then B-17Es on long anti-submarine patrols to the Galapagos Islands.
This page covers the flight records from that three-year period: December 1939 through October 1942, from France Field through the escalating urgency of Pearl Harbor to the quiet end of his Guatemala assignment as his group prepared to move stateside. The full-career view is on Flight Records.
Arrival at France Field
France Field sat on the Atlantic side of the Canal Zone, a few miles from the port at Cristóbal. Bob was assigned to the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron, which flew the Douglas B-18 Bolo — a converted DC-3 airframe that had been adapted as a medium bomber and had drawn the short straw against the B-17 in competitive evaluation, but which equipped most of the Canal Zone squadrons because there simply weren't enough Fortresses to go around.
"When I reported to France Field in the Canal Zone, my commanding officer was Captain Hicks, an outstanding officer and pilot who I admired greatly. The B-18 was the primary aircraft of the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron. The airplane was essentially a Douglas DC-3 that had been converted to a 'bomber.' It was flown by a crew of six: pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, navigator, radio operator, and crew chief / gunner."
— Gen. Robert W. Burns
The Canal Zone in 1940 was a garrison with a purpose. The locks were the most strategically important piece of infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere — the route between the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. The 7th Recon flew anti-submarine and coastal patrol along routes that extended far out to sea, using a technique called time-and-distance navigation: no radio aids, no ground beacons, just a compass heading and a stopwatch and a very clear understanding of wind.
"On one of my early flights from France Field, the route was a long triangular patrol over the Caribbean. The navigator gave me a heading and a time, and at the appointed minute we turned. When we let down through the clouds on the final leg, France Field was directly off the nose. The navigator said nothing. That was the standard — you were simply expected to arrive where you said you would arrive, when you said you would arrive."
— Gen. Burns, on navigation standards at France Field
Assignment Timeline
The B-17Bs Arrive
For nearly two years, the B-18 had been the workhorse — capable enough for Caribbean patrol but underpowered and limited in range. In mid-1941, B-17Bs began arriving in the Canal Zone. They were early-model Fortresses — older than the B-17Cs and Ds being sent to the Philippines, but to a pilot who had been flying B-18s, they felt like a different world.
"When the B-17Bs arrived, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Four engines — more power than you could need. The airplane was responsive, stable on instruments, and when you were first pilot it felt like you owned the sky. I logged my first B-17B flight as first pilot in the summer of 1941 and I don't think I've ever been quite as pleased with an airplane since — maybe the B-17G later, but the feeling wasn't the same as the first time."
— Gen. Burns
Pearl Harbor — December 7, 1941
"I was at Howard Field on the Pacific side when the news came that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. I was the only officer there. I spent that night supervising the arming of our aircraft — loading bombs, belting ammunition, fueling everything we had. Nobody knew if the Japanese would hit the Canal next. We worked through the night. By morning everything was ready and nothing had happened, and I suppose that was the best possible outcome."
— Gen. Burns
The Canal Zone went to maximum alert status immediately after Pearl Harbor. Howard Field, on the Pacific side, was one of the more exposed installations — the Pacific entrance to the Canal lay within range of carrier-based aircraft. Bob's December 1941 flight log shows heavy activity in the weeks following December 7 as the 7th Recon flew extended patrols to watch for any follow-on Japanese surface or carrier forces.
Historical Note — Eliam Burns
Eliam's death is recorded in the family archive. Bob was stationed at France Field and received the news by telegram. He was unable to return for the funeral — wartime travel restrictions and the operational demands of the squadron made leave impossible. This fact from the family timeline is not reflected in the flight records.
Galapagos Patrols — Guatemala City, 1942
By April 1942, Bob had moved with his unit to Guatemala City. The mission had shifted from Caribbean anti-submarine patrol to long-range Pacific overwater flights — the Galapagos route. These were 7 to 8 hour missions at 1,500 feet over open ocean, with no navigators assigned and no radio navigation aids in range for most of the flight.
"The Galapagos patrols were unlike anything else I flew in the war. Seven hours at fifteen
hundred feet over the Pacific. You navigate by the wind streaks on the water and the
angle of the whitecaps — they tell you the wind direction and approximate speed, and
from that you correct your heading and your estimated time of arrival. There was no radar.
There were no navigation beacons that reached that far out. You flew it on instruments
and dead reckoning and experience and you expected to find the islands where your
calculations said they would be.
Only one crew during our time there failed to find landfall and was not heard from again.
That happened while I was there. You didn't talk about it much. You made sure your
navigation was right."
— Gen. Burns
"I had a motorcycle accident in Guatemala City — came off the bike and hit the pavement face-first. Took out some teeth and did a fair amount of damage. An Army dental officer in the city put me back together as well as the circumstances allowed. For a while I flew the Galapagos route with my face not quite right, which was uncomfortable but not medically disqualifying."
— Gen. Burns
In Bob's Own Words — Morning Reports
In the summer of 2003, Bob Burns sent his family a series of "Morning Report" emails recounting his career in detail. Five of those stories are set in the Canal Zone and Guatemala period.
Galapagos Patrols: Navigation by Whitecaps
"The streaks gave you a wind indication but the size of the white caps gave a close idea of the wind velocity… Crude as this methodology was, to my knowledge, only one crew missed landfall and was not heard of again."
Read the full story →The Perfect Navigation
"When my watch came to the minute, I signaled that we were there. With this, the pilot rolled into a 90 degree bank and, lo and behold, the base was directly under us."
Read the full story →Pearl Harbor at Howard Field
"The base duty officer came in and told me to get moving, that the Japs had attacked Pearl Harbor and that we were at war."
Read the full story →Motorcycle Crash in Guatemala
"I have no idea what triggered it, but I was suddenly aware that the cycle was in a vicious shuddering in the front wheel. Immediately, I was thrown off and slid down the road, face first."
Read the full story →Three Engines Over a Lake
"As I neared going into the lake, I eased the nose back a trifle and there was just a smidge of lift. I nursed the plane for what seemed like an eternity…"
Read the full story →Monthly Flight Hours
Hours computed from individual flight entries. December 1939 record shows zero flights — arrival month only. June 1941 was the highest single month: 101:25 hours.
Aircraft Flown — From the Flight Records
Principal aircraft by flight count. The B-18 Bolo dominated the early years; B-17 variants (B, E, F) took over as patrol missions intensified after Pearl Harbor. Utility types (U-series designations) were liaison and administrative aircraft.
Assignment Geography
Source Context
Flight record data digitized from AAF Form 5 (Individual Flight Record) for the Canal Zone period. Narrative content drawn from Gen. Burns' personal correspondence preserved in the family archive. Station coordinates and unit history from USAAF historical records. All flight statistics computed from individual flight entries in the archive database.
Generated from SQLite archive data on March 03, 2026.