Article from "Men with Wings," with section highlighted about Lincoln Beachey. Highlighted sections: "...and Lincoln Beachey, whose names would mean something in the future development of American aviation... American Lincoln Beachey. Beachey's daring kept interest in aviation alive in the United States after appetities had become jaded with exhibition flying. His specialty was the "death dive." Shutting off the engine of his Curtiss at five thousand feet, Beachey would dive the plane nearly vertically and land with breathtaking precision - generally, before a crowded grandstand - in a precisely selected spot. He also, in June 1911, created a star by flying over Niagara Falls, under the arch of International Bridge, and through the Gorge before 130,000 spellbound spectators and for five thousand dollars. A nerveless stunt flier, Beachey could pick a handkerchief off the ground with his wingtip, he looped, he rolled, and he "turkey trotted." One writer at the time compared him with the poet Milton and the pianist Paderwski and called him "the greatest artist of the aeroplane." Another Beachey spcialty was to race his Curtiss against the greatest auto racer of the time, Barney Oldfield, for the "Championship of the Universe." Beachey generally won. Beachey's last flight occurred at his hometown San Francisco, when doing an exhibition flight his specially made monoplane lost its wings in a dive and Beachey fell to his death in San Francisco Bay (March 14, 1915). He had finally met the "Silent Reaper of Souls" of whom he had written so often. He once told a newsman that when the end did..." Beachey had a keen instinct for showmanship and an undisguised contempt for his audience) in 1912 Beachey staged an auto vs. flying machine competition between himself and celebrated racing driver Barney Oldfield. Beachey won by a nose. (National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution."