Evening star., 1924-10-05
ARMY FLYER KILLED
IN PULITZER RACE
Capt. Skeel's Plane CoIIapses
in Tremendous Dive to
Get Fast Start.
BY FREDERICK X. NEELY,


WILBUR WRIGHT FIELD, Fair
field, Ohio, October 4.-DiSaster closed
the three day air meet at this field
this afternoon. The Pulitzer trophy
race for high-speed planes, with four
Army entrants, will long be remem-
bered by the thousands who gathered
here. AS they recall a tiny object
emerging from the clouds, see it
plunge downward at a greater speed
than ever witnessed before-truly
almost at lightning speed-and as
they see this object take the form
of plane as it neared earth. and
further, as they see something
broken away from each side of this
ish-shaped object and fiutter away,
to be followed instantly by a plunge
into the ground and a shower OF
dirt and smoke, they will he remind
ed of the death of Capt. Burt T.
Skeel, the Armys most ambitious
flyer.
The day had been long and tire
some and the monotony was broken
for a few minutes by the John l..
Mitchell trophy race of new Curtis
pursuit planes and the subsequent ar
rival of the world flyers from McCook
under escort of the Barling bomber,
worlds largest airplane: Sperry
messenger, ArmyS smallest commits
stoned plane, and formation OF five
De Havilands from Chanute Field,
Rantoul. III. The far-famed and
much -heralded Pulitzer trophy race
was delayed half an hour until the
crowds could yell themselves hoarse
for the world circlers.
Planes Finally Take Air.
Without warning from the an
nouncer. who spoke through micro
phone into amplifiers stretched all
over this large area, little silver
colored plane shot up from the
ground. followed a few seconds later
by another one of the exact type.
Tho numbers IS and 60 were plainly
visible under the wings and on the
sides of the fuselage as the little
ships climbed over the crowds. telling
the spectators they were flown by
Capt Skeel of Selfridge Field, Mich,
and Lieut.. Wendell II. Brookley of
McCook Field. Dayton. Ohio.
They headed for the clouds and
soon disappeared, and by this time
the Ncrville-Sperry monoplane had
taken the air in command of Lieut..
H. H. Mills of this field. had folded it's
wheels under the fuSilage ana was
headed for point far in the rear of
the starting line in order to get
good dash across the line. Lieut.. Rex
Soner of Langley Field, the first man
to attach his plane to dirigible
while both were in flight, was the
last off the ground, and he flew
Curtiss pursuit ship-the same type
used by Lieut.. r. l.. Maughan in his
dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight,
with few improvement
Skeel and Brookley, who will be re-
membered as the sky-writer at the
air show in Washington last Sep
tember had planned to get good
altitude and dive across the line,
using the speed generated in the dive
to increase their flying time. All
eyes fastened to the west. where it
was thought they would emerge from
the clouds, and in the meantime the
Verville-Sperry, from an altitude of
about a thousand feet, dived across
the line and, roaring along like a
huge bug, soon disappeared around
the course.
A few seconds later came the little
dot from under the clouds, and within
the blink of an eye Capt. Skeel was
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