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FLIER FIGHTS DEATH HIGH OVER FIELD _________ Broken Wheel Control is Cause of Wichita Crack-up ________ WICHITA, Kan., Aug. 23. - Maj. James H. Doolittle, famous air ace, nosed his plane gently into the ground at the airport here after a thrilling hour aloft, in which he faced almost certain death. With his retractable landing gear jammed in the fuselage of his tiny biplane, Doolittle circled above the airport for many minutes struggling to restore the wheels to normal po- sition. At last his gas nearly exhausted, he succeeded in restoring the right wheel to normal place, and in bring- ing the other wheel down about hal- way from the fuselage. ATTEMPTS LANDING Then he cut his motor to its lowest speed and attempted a landing. The plane rocked back and forth as the uneven landing gear struck the runway, and seemed about to overturn. Finally, losing speed, it nosed into the earth, breaking the propeller. Unharmed except for minor bruises, the famous pilot, holder of the transcontinental flight record, stepped from his partially wrecked ship and smiled at the crowd which rushed toward him. His first concern then was for his ship, a biplane, and he examined it carefully. Then, assured that only replacement of the propeller and minor repairs would be necessary, he walked to the hangar. TESTS PLANE The audacious airman, noted for his daring even in those hazardous days of stunt flying after the world war, took the little shop aloft for speed tests after having some repairs made here. He wore a parachute, but hand only about enough gas for an hour's fly- ing when he left the ground. Once off the runway he drew up the peculiar landing gear, built to give the plane greater speed, into the fuselage. After half an hour of fly- ing he circled for a landing. Then it was discovered the gear had jammed. A landing at 90 miles an hour in a plane without wheels appeared the only alternative to a parachute jump. FREES ONE WHEEL But Doolittle kept up his struggle with the levers controlling the gear. Aided by messages of advice carried by a plane piloted by Truston Kirk, Wichita flier, he succeeded in free- [in] the right wheel. A little later he banked sharply to the right and forced the left wheel about half way out of the fuselage. As the wheels touched the crowd held its breath. The plane veered sharply to the left, lost speed and nosed down on its propellor as the watching hundreds signed their re- life. Record 8 - 23 SARATOGA ENTRIES MAJ, DOOLITTLE FOILS DEATH IN AIR __ WICHITA, Kan., Aug. 23--Major James H. Doolittle, famous air ace, landed his speed plane safely at the airport here at 12:45 p. m. today, after a thrilling hour in which he faced possible death or injury. With his retractable landing gear jammed in the fuselage of his tiny biplane, Doolittle circled above the airport for many minutes, struggling to restore the wheels to normal position. At last, his gas nearly exhausted, he succeeded in restoring the right wheel to normal place, ad in bringing the other wheel down about half way from the fuselage. Then he cut his motor to its slowest speed and attempted a landing. The plane rocked back and forth as the uneven landing gear struck the runway and seemed about to overturn. Finally, losing speed, it nosed into the earth, breaking the propeller. Doolittle's dramatic fight for life occurred as he was testing the speed-ship with which he had set the present coast-to-coast record of 11 hours and 11 minutes. The plane, rebuilt for the Bendix trophy race next Saturday, was too badly damaged to be repaired for the race. A message plane, piloted by Truston Kirk, Wichita pilot, went aloft at intervals of a few minutes to carry encouragement and advice to the flier by means of a blackboard held by a passenger in Kirk's ship. At 12:25 the plane went aloft with this message: "Pull the pin and zoom. Bank hard to the right." sturald 8-23