Thursday, August 21, 2008

Lincoln Beachey -- 1913


AMERICAN ICARUS: BEACHEY COMES TO SAN DIEGO (Part Two)

By Jeff Smith | Published Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 San Diego Reader - San Diego,CA,USA

He spoke at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, May 12, 1913. “Death was always my opponent,” said Lincoln Beachey at a celebration in his honor, “and I gave tremendous odds.” -- One became known as the “dip of death.” From 5000 feet, Beachey shot straight down and pulled out at the last second. Twenty-two pilots died trying to imitate the maneuver. Shortly before he spoke at the Olympic Club, newspapers called Beachey “the Pacemaker of Death” — and accused him of murder. Click to read about the flying feats of Lincoln Beachey by Jeff Smith.