NEW YORK TIMES June 24, 1970

                        ROSCOE TURNER, SPEED FLIER, DIES

               Flamboyant Racer, 74, Won Major Trophies in 1930's

            INDIANAPOLIS, June 23 -- Roscoe Turner, one of the most flam-
       boyant and successful pilots of the scarf-and-goggles era of the
       1930s, died in an Indianapolis hospital today after a two-month
       illness.  He was 74 years old.
                                   __________

                            Strolled With a Pet Lion

            When the young air racer strolled down a Los Angeles street
       one day almost 40 years ago, resplendent in a dazzling blue tunic
       with gold braid, a parachute slung over his shoulder, and his pet
       lion, "Gilmore," on a leash, pedestrians, not surprisingly, turned
       around and stared.
            "Let them razz me all they please," Colonel Turner laughed to
       a friend.  "It's a matter of advertising."
            Colonel Turner-- he achieved the rank in the Nevada and
       California National Guards for one of his flying exploits--was a
       hero to a generation awed by glamour and the speed of the
       airplane.  Few in his era flew faster than he did, and few knew
       better the art of self-promotion that nurtured his acclaim.
            Zack Moseley, the cartoonist, based the character "Smilin'
       Jack" on the image Colonel Turner paraded before the 
       public.
            He wore many uniforms over the years, but his favorite was
       the one consisting of a brilliant blue tunic, fawn-colored
       breeches, knee-length boots, Sam Browne belt and crimson flying
       helmet.
                                   __________

                            Top Competitor in 1930's

            Colonel Turner combined his flair for self-promotion with icy
       nerves and flying skills that made him one of the most successful
       competitors in the air races of the 1930's.  Roaring around the
       air-race pylons in tiny Wasp-Senior and Wedell-Williams racing
       planes at speeds of up to 300 miles an hour, he won the Thompson
       Trophy three times, the Harmon Trophy twice, and many other top
       prizes.  Seven times he broke transcontinental speed records.
            Roscoe Turner was born September 29, 1895, at Corinth, Miss.,
       the son of a farmer.  His father wanted him to become a banker, so
       he enrolled in a business school.  But when World War I began, he
       enlisted as an Army Ambulance Corps private and later transferred
       to the Balloon Service as an observer and was commissioned.
            After the war, the young man worked variously as a circus
       lion tamer, an air circus parachute jumper and a stunt flyer.
       Helped by his clever self-promotion, he became a favorite of the
       crowds.  In 1926, flying the first American-built plane designed
       by Igor Sikorsky, he migrated to Hollywood, where he flew the
       craft in a series of war films.                          
            Colonel Turner began setting air records in 1930, and reigned
       as one of the sport's leading heroes until 1939, when the approach
       of World War II helped still the sound of the pylon racers.
            Throughout the years, the aviator was known as "Colonel."  He
       had been made a lieutenant colonel on the staff of the Nevada
       Governor, Fred Balazar, and a colonel on the staff of Governor
       James Rolph of California.  He acquired the honorary titles after
       carrying the two Governors on a one-day flight from Washington to
       Los Angeles in 1932.
            After the war, in which he helped train more than 3,500
       cadets and instructors for the Army Air Forces, Colonel Turner
       divided his time between a large Tudor style home on a four-acre
       estate in Indianapolis and a home in Florida.  He continued to
       fly, piloting the latest military jet planes, until about three
       years ago.  Meanwhile, he had operated, until he sold the
       business two years ago, a prosperous distributorship for private
       aircraft in Indianapolis.
            In 1952, the Air Force awarded him the Distinguished Flying
       Cross for his racing exploits and wartime training contributions.
            Colonel Turner leaves his second wife, Madonna, whom he
       married in 1946; a brother, William of Indianapolis, and a sister,
       Mrs. Cecil Whittaker of Corinth, Miss.  His first marriage ended
       in divorce.
            A funeral service will be conducted tomorrow at the Christ
       Church Cathedral in Indianapolis.

                                            NEW YORK TIMES June 24, 1970


       Data transcription by: Cheryl Hurley, Kossuth High School,
                              October 24, 1992.