Howard W. Gill (1882 - September 14, 1912)[1] was a pioneer U. S. aviator from a wealthy Baltimore tea family. He died as the result of a night time mid-air collision with fellow pilot Frenchman George Mestach during a meet at Cicero Field Chicago.
Howard Gill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Howard Warfield Gill 1882 (*per tombstone) |
| Died | September 14, 1912 Cicero Field, Chicago, Illinois |
| Resting place | Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore City, Baltimore, Maryland |
| Occupation | aviator |
| Years active | 1911-12 |
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Death
editGill had been in the air September 14, 1912, in a Wright Model Ex single seater, as night was coming on. He did not want to go aloft as night was coming on but promoters of the flying meet pressured him to ascend. It was the understanding of the pilots that no two airplanes were supposed to be in the air at the same time. George Mestach was told this but went up in his Morane-Borel monoplane before Gill landed. Mestach did not see that Gill had not yet landed and collided with Gill's tail rigging. The two planes crashed, in a similar fashion to the 1910 René Thomas - Bertram Dickson crash at Milan. Mestach sustained cuts and bruises but survived; Gill was mortally wounded and died before getting to the hospital.[2]
References
edit- ^ Howard Gill at findagrave.com
- ^ CICERO FLYING FIELD; an article on the historic Chicago airfield Archived 2006-02-01 at the Wayback Machine by Carroll Gray, aviation historian
External links
edit- Howard Gill at Earlyaviators.com
- Gill and Peck Die Needlessly at Cicero; Chicagology (Wayback Machine)
- portrait of Howard Gill and his fellow aviators (Carroll Gray collection)(Wayback)
- Howard W. Gill Portrait (archived)
- portrait (Mdhs; Maryland Historical Society)
