- Burt E. Skeel
Burt Eugene Skeel was an
United States Air Force and civilian pilot. He was born onMay 5 ,1894 inEast Cleveland, Ohio , to Frank E. and Artemisia Edgerton Skeel.Skeel commanded the 27th Pursuit Squadron of the First Pursuit Group at
Selfridge Field inMount Clemens, Michigan .On
October 6 ,1923 , Skeel won the second running of theMitchell Trophy Race inSt. Louis, Missouri , with his MB-3A reaching a speed of 161 mph (258 km/h).Skeel had boasted that he intended to win the Pulitzer Trophy Race at Wilbur Wright Field in 1924. Instead, he was killed on
October 4 when the wings of his Curtiss broke away from the fuselage when he was still at 2,000 feet (615 m), and he went into a dive at about 275 mph (440 km/h).Camp Skeel inOscoda, Michigan was named in his memory.References
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