The Columbia monoplane was entered for the 1912 Gordon Bennett aviation race held in Chicago, to be piloted by Paul Peck, known as “The Birdman of West Virginia”, powered by a rotary rated at 50 hp. In 1912 Peck was killed while flying the Columbian at a Chicago exhibition. Peck started a steep spiral, ignoring a sudden storm, the engine came loose, cut through the pilot’s seat with its whirling propeller, and the airplane disintegrated in the air.
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