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Samuel Kinkead killed... fighter ace...



Item # 642214

March 13, 1928

THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 13, 1928

* Aviator Samuel Kinkead killed
* South African fighter ace
* High Speed Flight RAF


The top of the front page has a one column heading: "BRITISH FLIER DIES IN PLUNGE INTO SEA; SOUGHT SPEED MARK" with subheads. (see)
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day. Complete in 60 pages, this is the rare rag edition that was produced on very high quality newsprint, with a high percentage of cotton & linen content, allowing the issues to remain very white & sturdy into the present. Given the subscription cost, libraries & institutions rather than individuals were the primary subscribers of these high-quality editions. Nice condition.

wikipedia notes: In 1928, while in command of the RAF High Speed Flight, Samuel Kinkead was killed in a plane crash as he tried to become the first man to travel at more than five miles a minute in a Supermarine S.5 near Calshot England. The circumstances of his death have never been satisfactorily explained although a verdict of death by misadventure was passed at the inquest. The witnesses to the crash thought Kinkead was flying very low and very fast when his S.5 dived into moderately deep water near the Calshot Lightship. Although the RAF Duty Motorboat quickly buoyed the wreck site it took two days for the salvage vessel to find and retrieve the wreckage that had split into two parts. The remains were taken to Calshot and the controls were laid out on the slipway to check for any technical fault but the inspector could find nothing technically wrong with the machine. It was at first thought that Kinkead had been thrown clear of the machine during the crash but his body was found, minus half of his head, compressed into the tail. The tail had to be cut open in order to retrieve the body. It was quite obvious that Sam Kinkead had died instantly.

Category: The 20th Century