Burt Eugene Skeel was a

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

and civilian pilot.

Biography

He was born on May 5, 1894, in East Cleveland, Ohio, to Frank E. and Artemisia Edgerton Skeel. Skeel commanded the 27th Pursuit Squadron of the First Pursuit Group at Selfridge Field in Mount Clemens, Michigan. On October 6, 1923, Skeel won the second running of the

Mitchell Trophy Race Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territory ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, 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 The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that have taken place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew ...

Wilbur Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Loca ...

in 1924. Instead, he was killed on October 4 when the wings of his

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

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 Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base in Iosco County, Michigan. It operated from 1923 until decommissioned in 1993. On January 18, 1994 it was listed as a Superfund due to extensive groundwater contaminatio ...

Oscoda, Michigan Oscoda ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Iosco County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The CDP had a population of 916 at the 2020 census. The community is located within Au Sable Township and Oscoda Townsh ...

was named in his memory.

References

1894 births 1924 deaths United States Army officers People from East Cleveland, Ohio Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Sports deaths in Ohio {{aviation-bio-stub