Eddie August Schneider

Eddie August Schneider

Schneider on September 10, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan for the National Air Races
Born Eddie August Henry Schneider
October 20, 1911
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Died December 23, 1940 (aged 29)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Cause of death
 Mid-air collision
Resting place
 Fairview Cemetery
Education William L. Dickinson High School
Occupation Aviator
Known for Transcontinental record
National Air Tour
Great Lakes Trophy
Yankee Squadron
Height 5-ft, 8 in (68 in)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg)
Title Junior transcontinental airspeed record holder
Predecessor Frank Goldsborough
Successor Robert Nietzel Buck
Religion Lutheran
Spouse(s) Gretchen Frances Hahnen (1902–1986) (m. 1934–40)
Parent(s) Emil August Schneider (1886–1955)
Inga Karoline Pedersen (1882–1927)
Signature

I recently flew more than twelve thousand miles in a little over a month, through rain, fog, wind and snow, over mountains, cities and deserts, in a three-year-old, second-hand airplane that had already traveled some five hundred thousand miles.

— Eddie August Schneider on September 1, 1931

From the beginning I had wanted to do something with my flying. Just being able to go up in the air and come down at the same spot wasn't very exciting. Airplanes are for going places quickly, safely and comfortably. I don't know why, but my longing had always been to go to the West Coast. First, because I had never been there, and then for various reasons you fly over all sorts of country on the way, and it is the best way to see the country.

— Eddie August Schneider on October 1, 1931

I was broke, hungry, jobless ... yet despite the fact that all three of us are old-time aviators who did our part for the development of the industry, we were left out in the cold in the Administration’s program of job making. Can you blame us for accepting the lucrative Spanish offer?

— Eddie August Schneider on January 20, 1937

Eddie August Henry Schneider[1] (October 20, 1911 – December 23, 1940) was an American aviator who set three transcontinental airspeed records for pilots under the age of twenty-one in 1930.[2] His plane was a Cessna Model AW with a Warner-Scarab engine, one of only 48 built, that he called "The Kangaroo".[3][4][5] He set the east-to-west, then the west-to-east, and the combined round trip record.[6][7][8] He was the youngest certificated pilot in the United States, and the youngest certified airplane mechanic.[9] He was a pilot in the Spanish Civil War in the Yankee Squadron.[10][11] He died in an airplane crash in 1940 while training another pilot, when a Boeing-Stearman Model 75 belonging to the United States Navy Reserve overtook him and clipped his plane's tail at Floyd Bennett Field.[12][13][14]

Birth and family

Eddie Schneider was born in 1911 at 2nd Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan in New York. His father was Emil August Schneider (1886–1955) who was born in Bielefeld, Germany. His mother was Inga Karoline Eldora Pedersen (1882–1927), who was born in Farsund, Norway. Eddie had one full sibling: Alice Violetta Schneider (1913–2002) who married John Harms (1905–1985).[1][8] He was never called Edward but was baptized as "Eddie".[15][16]

Early years

The family moved from Manhattan to Red Bank, New Jersey, and then they moved to Jersey City, New Jersey by 1920 where his father owned a delicatessen. Eddie attended William L. Dickinson High School and dropped out of school in 1926, at age 15 to go to work as a plane mechanic at Roosevelt Field in Hempstead, Long Island.[13] In 1927 his mother died, then, Eddie and his parents visited Bielefeld, Germany and Farsund, Norway to visit with relatives. In Germany Eddie went on a plane ride from Hamburg to Hanover and then aviation became his obsession.[8][16] In 1928–1929 he trained at Roosevelt Field on Long Island and became the youngest person in the United States to receive a commercial pilot certificate.[17] That same year he also received a mechanics certificate, becoming the youngest certificated airplane mechanic in New York.[12] In April 1930 Eddie was living in Hempstead, Long Island with Carl Schneider (1898–?) who was also working as a mechanic. Eddie's father bought him a used, red, 1927 Cessna Model AW monoplane with tail number C9092. It already had been flown five hundred thousand air miles.[18] He called it "the kangaroo".[3]

Transcontinental air speed record

Eddie reported that he intended to fly to the Pacific coast and back on July 30, 1930.[19] On August 25, 1930 he set the round-trip transcontinental air speed record for pilots under the age of twenty-one years in his Cessna using a Warner Scarab engine. The trip was sponsored by Richfield Oil. He flew from Westfield, New Jersey on August 14, 1930 to Los Angeles, California in 4 days with a combined flying time of 29 hours and 55 minutes. He lowered the East to West record by 4 hours and 22 minutes. He then made the return trip from Los Angeles to Roosevelt Airfield in New York in 27 hours and 19 minutes, lowering the West to East record by 1 hour and 36 minutes.[7] His total elapsed time for the round trip was 57 hours and 14 minutes, breaking the preceding record for the round trip. Frank Herbert Goldsborough held the previous record which was 62 hours and 58 minutes. When Eddie landed in New York on August 25, 1930, his first words were to his father: "Hello Pop, I made it."[20] He was carrying letters from the Mayor John Clinton Porter of Los Angeles, to Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City.[21] Combined he set three records.[2]

Air tours

After setting the transcontinental speed record he entered in the 1930 Ford National Reliability Air Tour in Chicago, which ran from August 23, 1930 to September 1, 1930. He won the Great Lakes Trophy. Nancy Hopkins also flew in the tour that year.[22] In 1931 Eddie participated in, what was the last Ford National Reliability Air Tour, in his Cessna. A defect in his engine forced a landing while flying over a mountainous section of Kentucky. He made a forced landing in a corn patch on the side of the mountain. A new engine was sent to him and after a difficult takeoff, he went on to win first place for single engine aircraft, and finished third overall.[13][23][24][25]

Time (magazine) wrote:

Sensation of the meet was the youngster Eddie Schneider, 19, who fell into last place by a forced landing of his Cessna and a three-day delay in Kentucky, then fought his way back to finish third, ahead of all other light planes.[26]

During one of the National Air Tours, Schneider had taken off in his Cessna with the Warner Scarab engine, from Chicago bound for the balloon races in Cleveland. He saw the crowd scatter below, looked up and saw the 40-foot left wing of a twenty passenger Burnelli transport plane directly over him. Passengers in the Burnelli scrambled to the other side of the cabin to tilt the wing back up. Schneider sent his plane diving just as the Burnelli's wing scraped his planes wing. A crash was averted by his dip. The officials said his quick action in dipping his plane close to the ground and then pulling clear of the grandstand had probably averted the most serious accident in the races.[8]

Marriage

In 1932 he went to work for the Hoover Air League as co-director of the Aviation Division.[27] He married Gretchen Frances Hahnen (1902–1986) in New York City on June 2, 1934 at the New York Municipal Building in Manhattan.[28] Gretchen was the daughter of Zora Montgomery Courtney (1882–1962) and was originally from Peoria, Illinois. Her father was Herman F. Hahnen from Des Moines, Iowa. She was a member the Jersey City Young Woman's Christian Association (YWCA) and was director of the Aviation Club of The Jersey Journal, and the editor of the Junior Club Magazine. Eddie met her at an aviation function.[9][29] They did not have any children.

Jersey City Airport

Starting on January 1, 1935 Eddie leased the Jersey City Airport and ran his flying school from there until the field was converted into a sports stadium using WPA money.[30][31] Eddie was taking off in a Travel Air three-seat, open-cockpit biplane with his student, Fred Weigel (1904–1990), when the motor died. From an altitude of 100 feet they crashed into Newark Bay, but were unhurt and were able to walk ashore.[8][13][30] He also taught Herbert Sargent to fly with just 55 minutes in lessons.[32]

Spanish Civil War

In 1936, Eddie left for Spain to fly in the Yankee Squadron for the Spanish Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War with Frederic Ives Lord, Bertrand Blanchard Acosta, and Gordon Berry. They were recruited by a lawyer in New York City.[17]Time magazine wrote on December 21, 1936:

Hilariously celebrating in the ship's bar of the Normandie with their first advance pay checks from Spain's Radical Government, six able U.S. aviators were en route last week for Madrid to join Bert Acosta, pilot of Admiral Byrd's transatlantic flight, in doing battle against Generalissimo Francisco Franco's White planes.[33]

He was living at 50 Jones Street in Jersey City at the time he was recruited.[34] He was promised he would be paid $1,500 ($24.6 thousand today) each month and given a bonus of $1,000 ($16.4 thousand today) for every rebel plane he shot down.[33]

Another American flyer, Hilaire du Berrier, was already is Spain by time they arrived. Frederic Ives Lord became their squadron commander, and he tried to convince the Loyalist authorities that the planes they were given were too dilapidated to fly. When the commandant insisted that the planes were safe, Lord took him up for a test flight, and at two thousand feet up one of the four wings broke off. The commandant motioned Lord to climb higher so they could escape by using their parachutes. Lord wanted to try to land with the remaining lower wings intact. He landed the plane safely but he was arrested and was going to be shot. The airplane mechanics intervened and explained that his loss of the wing was accidental, not intentional. Things became so difficult and dangerous for the Americans that each time one of them landed they pulled out their pistols in case someone was coming to arrest them. They went to Valencia, Spain to complain to the air ministry, but the ministry was only interested in reading to the flyers the reports on Bertrand Blanchard Acosta and his heavy drinking. Berry, Lord, Acosta and Schneider decided it was time to demobilize and return to the United States. Acosta, Schneider and Lord planned to escape from Bilbao to Biarritz, France by motorboat after they had been refused a promised Christmas leave. Their plan was discovered and the pilot of their boat was arrested and executed. The pilots were then jailed for 18 hours.[35]

On returning to New York City in January 1937, Schneider claimed he was never paid in full. Spain claimed that they were paid in full, and were not owed any money.[36] Others who flew for the loyalists included: Bert Acosta, Gordon Berry, and Frederic Ives Lord.[37][38] When he returned he was questioned by Chief Assistant United States Attorney, John F. Dailey on January 15, 1937 in New York. Eddie's lawyer was Colonel Lewis Landes. On January 20, 1937, Eddie, Bert, and Gordon flew to Washington, D.C. and had to testify again. When talking to reporters Eddie said:

"I was broke, hungry, jobless... yet despite the fact that all three of us are old-time aviators who did our part for the development of the industry, we were left out in the cold in the Administration's program of job making. Can you blame us for accepting the lucrative Spanish offer?"

He later said "This was a mess... and there was always that never-ending jockeying for the power among the factions to contend with, it got to the point where we did not know who we were fighting and why, and you can say that we are damn glad to be back."[39] The flyers had their passports confiscated, and they were to be returned when they attested that they had never forsworn allegiance to America.[40]

Middle years

In 1938 Eddie stood at 5-foot, 8 inches (68 inches) and weighed 160 pounds (73 kg).[41] He had blue eyes and blond hair, and he was living at 38 Broadway in Manhattan. Eddie began work for American Airlines at Newark Airport in New Jersey, he then moved to Jackson Heights, Queens on Long Island, when the American Airlines eastern terminal had moved to LaGuardia Airport.[13] Eddie registered for the draft on October 16, 1940 when he was living at 3250 73rd Street in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York.[8][42]

Death

On December 23, 1940, around 1:25 pm, Eddie was killed in an accident at Floyd Bennett Field at age 29,[43] while training George Wilson Herzog (1903–1940).[14] They were flying at about 600 feet, about to land, when United States Navy Reserve pilot Kenneth A. Kuehner, age 25, of Minster, Ohio struck the tail assembly of Eddie's plane with his Boeing-Stearman Model 75. Eddie's plane went into a spin and crashed into Deep Creek, just off of Flatbush Avenue. Both Herzog and Schneider were dead at the scene of impact. The bodies were taken to King's County Hospital, and Eddie's cause of death was listed as "crushed chest & abdomen; hemothorax & hemoperitoneum in aeroplane crash". The accident was investigated by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and Kuehner was ruled at fault for flying too low and failing to observe the traffic in front of him. The air traffic controllers were also chastised.[44][45] The United States House of Representatives reported the accident as follows on November 7, 1941:

It appears that on December 23, 1940, a private plane piloted by Eddie Schneider was struck by a Navy plane, piloted by Ensign Kenneth A. Kuehner, United States Naval Reserve, in the vicinity of Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, N. Y., causing the death of Eddie Schneider and completely demolishing his plane. The evidence indicates that the first contact of the Navy plane with the private plane was when its propeller cut through the tail of the private plane and out the tail completely off. This was confirmed by the fact that the tail surfaces of the private plane were found later to have been completely severed and by markings found on the propeller of the Navy plane. After the propeller of the Navy plane severed the tail surfaces, the private plane pulled ahead for an instant. The Navy plane swung slightly then overtook the private plane, again cutting one of its wings causing it to immediately spin to the waters below. An inspection of the Navy plane revealed that the leading edges of both blades of the propeller had been gouged and nicked, apparently at the time the ...[46]

Eddie was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Fairview, New Jersey, Bert Acosta attended the funeral.

Widow

In 1941 Gretchen appealed to Congress to pay for the funeral, which totaled $365.[47] On February 13, 1942 Gretchen again appealed to Congress for financial relief with HR 5290.[48] Around 1953–1954 Gretchen donated Schneider's books to the Smithsonian Institution and they are now housed at the National Air and Space Museum.[49] In 1961 she was given an award by the Early Fliers Club of Long Island.[50]

Aircraft

Major air races

Junior transcontinental air speed record holders

Timeline

  • 1911 Birth of Eddie Schneider in Manhattan, New York on October 20.[8]
  • 1915 (circa) Move to Red Bank, New Jersey.[8]
  • 1920 (circa) Move to Jersey City, New Jersey.[8]
  • 1920 Living in New Jersey.
  • 1927 Death of Inga Pedersen, Eddie's mother, on December 26.
  • 1927 Graduation from William L. Dickinson High School in Jersey City.
  • 1928 Returning from trip to Norway and Germany.[8][55]
  • 1929 Became the youngest person in the United States to receive a commercial pilot certificate and the youngest certificated airplane mechanic in New York.[8]
  • 1930 Living at 114 Carlton Avenue in Jersey City.
  • 1930 Sets east-to-west junior transcontinental air speed record on August 19.
  • 1930 Sets west-to-east and round-trip junior transcontinental air speed record on August 25.[7][20][56]
  • 1930 National Air Tour: Won Great Lakes Trophy, eighth place overall.[51]
  • 1930 Living in Hempstead, Long Island with Carl Schneider (no known relation)
  • 1931 at Miami Air Race in January with Richfield Oil Corporation as his sponsor.[52]
  • 1931 National Air Tour. He won first place for single engine planes, third place overall.[25]
  • 1932 Working for Hoover Air League.
  • 1934 Marriage to Gretchen Francis Hahnen on June 23, 1934.[9]
  • 1935 Living at 209 Sip Avenue, Jersey City[30]
  • 1935 Leases Jersey City Airport on January 1, 1935.
  • 1935 Engine dies at 100 feet and he and Fred Weigel (1904-?) crash into Newark Bay.[8][30]
  • 1935 Jersey City Airport closes to make room for sports stadium on December 31.[31]
  • 1936 Flying in Yankee Squadron in Spanish Civil War.[11][57][58]
  • 1936 Living at 50 Jones Street in Jersey City.[34]
  • 1937 Moves to Manhattan from Jersey City after return from Spain.
  • 1938 Living at 38 Broadway in Manhattan.
  • 1940 Work at American Airlines.[8]
  • 1940 Registered for draft on October 16.
  • 1940 Death in crash at Floyd Bennett Field on December 23.[12][13][14][59]
  • 1948 Papers donated to Institute of Aeronautical Sciences archive[60]
  • 2007 Nominated to the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame.
  • 2008 Nominated to the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

1930 transcontinental itinerary

  • Westfield, New Jersey; departure: August 14, 1930, 5:55 am, Eastern Daylight Time.[61]
  • Williamsburg, Pennsylvania; departure: August 15, 1930, 12:30 pm.[62]
  • Columbus, Ohio departure: August 15, 1930, 3:21 pm.[63]
  • St. Louis, Missouri; arrival: August 15, 1930 7:05 pm, Central Standard Time; departure: August 16, 1930, 1:25 pm; elapsed time: 8 hours 38 minutes.[63]
  • Wichita, Kansas; arrival: August 16, 1930, 7:45 pm.[64]
  • Santa Rosa, New Mexico aka Anton Chico, New Mexico.[65]
  • Albuquerque, New Mexico; arrival: August 18, 1930, 5:55 am, Mountain Standard Time; departure: August 18, 1930, 7:40 am, Mountain Standard Time.[5][66]
  • Los Angeles, California; arrival: August 19, 1930; departure: August 21, 1930, 6:17:30 am, Pacific Standard Time (elapsed flying time of 29 hours and 55 minutes from New Jersey to California).[67][68][69]
  • Albuquerque, New Mexico; arrival: August 21, 1930, 3:13 pm Mountain Time[70]
  • Columbus, Ohio; arrival: August 23, 1930, 3:35 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time); departure: August 24, 1930, ~8:00 a.m.[4][71][72]
  • Roosevelt Field, Long Island in Garden City, New York; arrival August 25, 1930, 4:03 pm, est; elapsed time: 27 hours and 19 minutes, lowering the West to East record by 1 hour and 36 minutes. His total elapsed time for the round trip was 57 hours and 14 minutes.[4][6]
  • Chicago, Illinois (to attend National Air Races).

See also

Archive

  • The Gretchen Black collection at the George H. Williams, World War I Aviation Library at the University of Texas at Dallas contains Eddie's certificates, letters, diary, photographs, and the beret he wore in the Spanish Civil War. They were originally donated by his widow to the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences in New York City, they were transferred to, and now archived at the University of Texas at Dallas. They also archived his New York car registration and NJ drivers license; his TWA Courtesy Card; 1940 Selective Service card; and 1942 FCC certificate.[73][74]
  • The Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915–1998) collection had the December 14, 1930 newspaper article on the planned but never started trip around the world.
  • The Associated Press has a single photo that was used by the New York Times for his obituary.[75] *New York State Vital Records provided the death certificate.
  • The Eddie A. Schneider Memorial Library consists of 67 books, 35 pamphlets, and a painting are housed at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. The material was donated by his widow, Gretchen Frances Hahnen (1902–1986), while she was living in Fort Worth, Texas. They also have two photos.[74]
  • Footage of his landing from Universal Newsreel does not appear in their archive. The 1930 newsreels have been transferred to DVD and indexed for August 18, 1930 and November 6, 1930, but the two weeks in between is either no longer extant, or wasn't transferred. The March of Time does not have any footage based on a search in their index.
  • The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has the original report of the investigation of the crash.
  • The Henry Ford archive has images of Eddie Schneider from the 1930–1931 Ford National Reliability Air Tour.

References and notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 United States passport for Emil August Schneider from April 14, 1921
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Junior Flyer Sets 3 New Speed Marks. Eddie Schneider, 18, Lands in New York, Beating Goldsborough's Cross Country Records.". Hartford Courant. Associated Press. August 25, 1930. Retrieved 2008-04-15. Eighteen-years-old Eddie Schneider of Jersey City, New Jersey, landed here from Columbus, Ohio, at 3:03 p. m. (E. S. T.) today with three junior transcontinental records
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Eddie August Schneider and Mary Bell Dann (October 1, 1931). "I Break a Record and have a Swell Time Besides". Flying magazine.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Eddie Schneider Sets 3 Records for Junior Fliers". Greeley Daily Tribune. Associated Press. August 26, 1930. He took his plane, 'The Kangaroo,' to a hangar and ministered personally to its wants, announcing that he would fly it to the Chicago air show tomorrow
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Forced Down. Eddie Schneider, 18, Jersey City schoolboy who hopped off today for Oakland to lower the junior transcontinental record". Oakland Tribune. Associated Press. August 14, 1930. Schneider took off at 4:55 am (Eastern Standard Time) in a cabin monoplane, The Kangaroo
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Schneider Makes Record Flight East. Pilot, 18, Cuts Goldsborough's Junior Coast-To-Coast Mark By 1 1⁄2 Hours. Lowers Round-Trip Time Jersey City High School Boy Arrives From Los Angeles In 27 Hours 19 Minutes, Dodging Storm On Way". New York Times. August 25, 1930. Retrieved 2007-10-31. Roosevelt Field, Long Island; August 24, 1930. In his trim little Cessna monoplane Edward Schneider, 18-year-old high school student, roared across the field here this afternoon, descended in a series of tight spiral turns and touched his wheels at 4:03 to establish new junior transcontinental flying records
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Schneider Makes Record Flight East; Pilot, 18, Cuts Goldsborough's Junior Coast-To-Coast Mark By 1 1⁄2 Hours. Lowers Round-Trip Time Jersey City High School Boy Arrives From Los Angeles In 27 Hours 19 Minutes, Dodging Storm On Way". New York Times. August 25, 1930. He left Westfield, New Jersey, last week and, with several overnight stops en route, landed at Los Angeles in 29 hours and 55 minutes of flying time, 4 hours and 22 minutes faster than Goldsborough's time over the same route. His flying time for the round trip was therefore 57 hours and 14 minutes, against his predecessor's record of 62 hours and 58 minutes
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 Hahnen, Gretchen (1948). "Biography of Eddie August Schneider (1911–1940) written by Gretchen Hahnen (1902–1986) to accompany his papers deposited at the George H. Williams, World War I Aviation Library at the University of Texas at Dallas". Eddie Schneider was born October 20, 1911 on Second Avenue, and 17th Street in New York City. Later his family moved to Red Bank, New Jersey where he attended grade school. From there his family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey and he graduated from William L. Dickinson High School. In 1928 [sic] his mother passed away and his father took him, and his sister, for a visit to Germany and Norway to visit relatives. It was in Germany that he had his first airplane flight and it was then the "bug" bit him. Eddie received his flying instructions at Roosevelt Field in 1928...
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Marriage announced of Gretchen Hahnen. Jersey City Girl Wed to Eddie A. Schneider, Aviator, Here on June 2". New York Times. June 24, 1934. Jersey City, New Jersey, June 23, 1934. The marriage on June 2 of Gretchen Hahnen of Jersey City, New Jersey governor of the Women's International Aeronautic Association, and Eddie A. Schneider of Jersey City, who in 1928, at age of 16 was the youngest air pilot to hold a commercial license, was announced today. The couple was married at the New York Municipal Building
  10. ↑ "Eddie A. Schneider". National Air Tour.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Flier Says Lawyer Sent Him to Spain". New York Times. January 16, 1937.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "2 Die as Planes Crash at Field. Eddie Schneider, Who Flew At 15, Is Killed When His Craft And Navy Trainer Collide. Passenger Also Victim. US Ship Is Landed Safely At Floyd Bennett Airport Despite Damaged Wings.". New York Times. December 24, 1940.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 "Local Pilot Dead". Jersey Journal. December 24, 1940.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "2 Die After Planes Collide in Mid-Air". Washington Post. International News Service. December 24, 1940.
  15. ↑ "Eddie August Schneider". Aero Diges. 1930. Retrieved 2012-12-28. Eddie, he was christened Eddie, not Edward - got into aviation through the back door as it were
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Eddie August Schneider and Mary Bell Dann (September 1, 1930). "Look Out, Lindbergh - Here I Come". Flying magazine. Not that it has much bearing on the story, but because people are always asking me, my name is really Eddie: I was christened that way. It isn't very dressy, but it serves the purpose...
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Aviator Says New York Attorney Is Leftist Agent. Several Indictments Are Planned in Enlistment of Fliers for Spain". Washington Post. Associated Press. January 16, 1937. Back from a month of dropping bombs on behalf of the Spanish loyalist government, Eddie Schneider, Jersey City, New Jersey, aviator, said today he was signed up by a New York lawyer to serve in the Spanish war at $1,500 a month
  18. ↑ Eddie August Schneider (October 1, 1931). "Look Out, Lindbergh - Here I Come". Flying magazine. Retrieved 2012-12-25. I recently flew more than twelve thousand miles in a little over a month, through rain, fog, wind and snow, over mountains, cities and deserts, in a three-year-old, second-hand airplane that had already traveled some five hundred thousand miles.
  19. ↑ "Boy Pilot Seeks Record. Jersey City Student Set to Fly to Pacific Coast and Back in August". New York Times. July 30, 1930. Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old Jersey City high school graduate, will try next month to better the national junior transcontinental airplane speed records of Frank Goldsborough. He plans to fly from the Westfield Airport to San Francisco and back. The youth has 275 air-hours to his credit, of which thirty-eight hours were of night flying. The record attempt will be made in a four-piece Cessna monoplane powered with a Warner Scarab motor, a far faster ship than that used by Goldsborough
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Boy Makes New Round Trip Mark. Eddie Schneider Now Holds Coast-To-Coast Round Trip Junior Flight Record. Beats Goldsborough's. Cuts One Hour, 36 Minutes From Time Of Young Flyer Recently Killed In Vermont". Associated Press. August 25, 1930. Roosevelt Field, New York, August 25, 1930 (Associated Press) 'Hello, Pop, I made it.' That was the greeting to his father by happy Eddie Schneider, who today holds the coast-to-coast round trip junior flight record, as he ended this final leg of his trip. The 18-year old pilot landed here Sunday shortly after 4 p.m. as a crowd of 2,000 cheered. He completed the flight from Los Angeles in 27 hours, 19 minutes and made a round trip record of 57 hours and 41 minutes. His record broke by one hour and 36 minutes the round-trip time of Frank Goldborough, the boy flyer who was killed when his plane crashed in Vermont
  21. ↑ "Hague Greets Boy Flier. Schneider Delivers Letter From Los Angeles Mayor at Exercises". New York Times. August 26, 1930. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  22. ↑ "Girl and boy of 19 are interesting pair in this year's Ford airplane tour". Newark Advocate. September 16, 1930.
  23. ↑ "Reliability air tourists over West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee". Coshocton Tribune. July 9, 1931. ... The point standing is as follows: ... Eddie Schneider 13.156.8
  24. ↑ "Russell Leads Nine Fliers in Air Tour". Lima News. July 10, 1931. Harry Russell, in a trimotored plane led nine contestants in the national reliability air tour into Tennessee Sky Harbor today for a luncheon control stop. Flight officials had received no word from Eddie Schneider, 19-year-old pilot, who was forced down near Middlesboro, Kentucky yesterday
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Ford National Reliability Air Tour". Western Aerospace. 1962. Third place was captured by Eddie Schneider flying a Warner Scarab-powered Cessna monoplane, while Lowell R. Bayles took fourth place flying a Warner...
  26. ↑ "Ford's Reliability". Time. August 3, 1931. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  27. ↑ US Air Services. 1932. Eddie A. Schneider has been selected as co-director of the Aviation Division and will carry a combined message of Aviation and Republicanism to young men...
  28. ↑ "Eddie A. Schneider Weds Woman Flyer". Seattle Daily Times. Associated Press. June 26, 1934. Eddie A. Schneider , 22 years old, an aviator, and Gretchen Hahnen, 33, New Jersey governor of the Women's International Aeronautics Association, were married in the Municipal Chapel June 2, a search of the records today disclosed. Four years ago Schneider, then 18, clipped an hour and a half from the late Frank Goldsborough's junior record of twenty-eight hours and eighteen minutes for a West-East transcontinental flight
  29. ↑ "Marriage". Los Angeles Times. June 26, 1934. Eddie A. Schneider, 22-year-old aviator, and Gretchen A. Hahnen, 33, New Jersey governor of the Women's International Aeronautics Association,...
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 "Two In Plane Escape In Newark Bay Crash. Schneider, Ex-Transcontinental Record-Holder, And Student Pilot Rescued By Police". New York Times. May 16, 1935. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Two aviators escaped with only minor bruises and a thorough wetting last night when their three-seat, open-cockpit biplane developed motor trouble soon after taking off from the Jersey City Airport and fell into Newark Bay 200 feet off Droyer's Point, Jersey City. The men were rescued by police, who went to their aid in a collapsible rowboat kept at the field
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Jersey City to Get WPA Stadium Fund. Mayor Hague Reports Application for $800,000 Approved for Arena at Airport". New York Times. September 26, 1935. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City announced yesterday he had been informed that the Works Progress Administration had approved the city's application for an $800,000 grant to build a municipal sports stadium
  32. ↑ "He Learns to Fly in 55 Minutes". The Richfield Reaper. March 21, 1935. After 55 minutes of instruction, Herbert Sargent, twenty-two, of Jersey City, made his first solo flight in a plane at the Jersey City airport and after completing the prescribed maneuvers set his plane down for a three point landing. Eddie A. Schneider, twenty-three, Sargent's youthful instructor, holder of the junior transcontinental flying record, said he allowed Sargent to go up alone because he handled a plane perfectly. Taking the air on such short instruction is believed to have brought to Sargent a new record
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "Pilots, Death, Plebiscite". Time. December 21, 1936. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Spanish Civil War Participants with German Surnames" (PDF). Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2007-11-16. Eddie August Schneider, 50 Jones Street, Jersey City
  35. ↑ "Yankee Air Squadron Quits Loyalists in Spanish Fight". The Charleston Daily Mail. United Press. January 5, 1937. When the Spanish Loyalists came near shooting Major Frederick Lord because a wing of his plane fell off, and Bert Acosta was thrown bodily out of air ministry at Valencia, America's four-man air squadron decided it was time to demobilize and retire from the civil war, their spokesman said here
  36. ↑ "Fliers Fully Paid, Spain's Agent Says; Declares Terms Of Contracts Were Met And No Money Is Now Due Them. Denial By Their Lawyer He Asserts Acosta, Schneider And Berry Got Some Funds On Friday, But Not Enough". New York Times. January 17, 1937. Retrieved 2007-09-25. While there were no developments yesterday in the United States Attorney's investigation of the procurement of Americans for service in Spain, the acting consul general for Spain and the attorney for American aviators who served the Loyalist cause issued conflicting statements regarding the pay they received
  37. ↑ Knoblaugh, H. Edward (1937). Correspondent in Spain. Sheed and Ward.
  38. ↑ Bridgeman, Brian (1989). The Flyers: The Untold Story of British and Commonwealth Airmen in the Spanish Civil War. ISBN 1-85421-054-8. Gordon Berry, a 39 year old flying and drinking companion of Acosta, who had also served in the RAF towards the end of World War I, and Eddie Schneider Jr, the youngest of the Americans at 25 and a former... Acosta, Berry and Schneider soon returned to the USA where Acosta and Berry made headlines telling their story to an eager press.
  39. ↑ "3 U.S. Airmen Here to Explain Aid to Loyalists. Acosta, Berry, Schneider Fly to Capital With Their Attorney.". Washington Post. January 20, 1937.
  40. ↑ "The Post's New Yorker". Washington Post. September 22, 1937. The State Department is still holding up the passport of Capt. Eddie Schneider, the holder of the junior transcontinental flying record, because be flew for the loyalists in Spain. Bert Acosta and Gordon Berry also can't get their passports, for the same reason ... The Government officials assured Schneider that they would issue the passport to him, on condition that he secure affidavits from Acosta and Berry, attesting to their knowledge that Schneider never foreswore allegiance to America
  41. ↑ World War II draft registration
  42. ↑ H. V. Pat Reilly; Balloon to the Moon (1992); ISBN 0-9632295-0-8
  43. ↑ Eddie Schneider's death certificate
  44. ↑ Civil Aeronautics Board Investigation of July 1941, box 14
  45. ↑ "Private Fliers Want New Queens Airport. Negotiations Under Way to Build Municipal Field". New York Times. January 1, 1941.
  46. ↑ "Bill H.R. 5290 for the relief of Mrs. Eddie A. Schneider". United States House of Representatives. November 7, 1941.
  47. ↑ Mrs. Gretchen Schneider, for the funeral of Eddie Schneider ... United States Government Printing Office. 1940. Retrieved 2008-11-04. Mrs. Eddie A. Schneider. The Navy Department in a letter to my attorneys, advised that the Navy ... Mrs. Gretchen Schneider, for the funeral of Eddie Schneider. Professional services $365.00 embalming remains, casket, name plate, palms, use of chapel, ...
  48. ↑ A bill for the relief of Mrs. Eddie A. Schneider; without amendment (Report No. 1403). Congressional Record. 1941. The Clerk called the next bill, HR 5290, for the relief of Mrs. Eddie A. Schneider. There being no objection, the Clerk read the bill, ...
  49. ↑ Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution. 1953–1954. Mrs. Gretchen Schneider Black, Fort Worth, Texas: The Eddie A. Schneider Memorial Library consisting of 67 books, 35 pamphlets, and a painting.
  50. ↑ "Early Fliers Hail Women Aviators". New York Times. September 18, 1961. Retrieved 2008-04-14. The widows of two early record-holding airmen were honored here today at the fourth annual meeting of the Early Fliers Club of Long Island. ... Mrs. Black was the wife of the late Eddie Schneider, holder of the junior transcontinental speed record for light planes in the late nineteen-twenties...
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 Kieran, Leo A. (October 5, 1930). "Fast Flying Marked Ford Tour. Full-Throttle Speeds for Most of 4,900-Mile Route in Canada and Northwest Gave New Practical Meaning to Reliability Test". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-25. The flying of the pilots was declared perfect, and the technique and navigation of Miss Nancy Hopkins, only woman pilot, Edward Schneider and Truman Wadlow, three of the youngest pilots in the troupe, was equal to that of the older and more experienced racing pilots. In winning the Great Lakes Trophy for light planes in the tour Schneider beat out pilots who had a much better wingpower load ratio by sheer speed and good navigation. ... Cessna; Schneider; 8th overall finish; Warner engine; 110 HP; 1,225 pounds; 1,035 useful load; 47,488.0 points; 113.1 mph average
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 "Official Of Oil Firm Flies Here". The Miami News. January 8, 1931. ... accompanied by his wife and Don Ryan Mockler, landed at municipal airport in a Cessna monoplane, piloted by Eddie Schneider, famous junior American pilot. ... Schneider's monoplane is painted in the Richfield colors, blue and cream. The young pilot, who won the junior transcontinental record this summer and followed this with winning the Great Lakes trophy in the National Air Tour, is planning sensational flight around the world. flying both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, solo
  53. ↑ Goldsborough, Frank (May 5, 1930). "Goldsborough Ends Flight With Record. New York Boy Lands at Los Angeles, Cutting 14 Hours Off Junior Coast-to-Coast Mark. Braved Bad Weather. Youth Spent 34 Hours and 3 Minutes in Air on Trip From Westfield, New Jersey. Former Record Was 48 Hours. Los Angeles, California". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  54. ↑ "Boy Flier Hops Off Second Time". Associated Press in Decatur Daily Review. October 1, 1930. Robert Buck, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth, New Jersey, aviator, endeavoring to lower Eddie Schneider's ...
  55. ↑ "Eddie August Schneider (1911–1940) traveling from Oslo, Norway to New York City on August 26, 1928". Flickr.
  56. ↑ "Sets Junior Transcontinental Record". Decatur Evening Herald (Pacific & Atlantic). August 25, 1930. The junior trans-continental flight record, formerly held by Frank Goldsborough, boy ace who died in crash recently, was lowered by Eddie Schneider...
  57. ↑ "American Aviators Through With Spain". Associated Press in Oshkosh Northwestern. January 6, 1937. Four disillusioned American aviators announced today they were through with Spain and, furthermore, they were through with civil wars. The Four - Bert Acosta, Frederick Lord, Gordon Berry and Eddie Schneider - had led the Spanish socialist government's 'Yankee squadron'; on the Basque front in the far north.
  58. ↑ "Lanphier was not in Spain". New York Times. February 6, 1937. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Major did not fly for loyalist forces as reported in the late editions of The New York Times of January 16, 1937, and in the early editions of January 17, 1937 there appeared an item concerning the return of Eddie Schneider, aviator, from serving a month in the so-called Yankee Squadron with the Spanish Loyalists and Schneider's appearance at the Federal Building, where he was questioned by John F. Dailey Jr., Chief Assistant United States...
  59. ↑ Eddie August Schneider death certificate
  60. ↑ "Eddie A. Schneider". Aeronautical Engineering Review. 1948. Logbooks, scrapbooks, articles, and clippings relating to the flying activities of Eddie A. Schneider, who established a junior transcontinental flying...
  61. ↑ "Youth Is After Junior Record". Newark Advocate. August 14, 1930. Eddie Schneider, 18 year old pilot took off at 5:55 am (Eastern Daylight Time) today in an attempt to set a new junior transcontinental flight record
  62. ↑ "Boy Aviator Forced To Land, But Arises Again". Clearfield Progress. International News Service. August 15, 1930. Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old Jersey City aviator, took off from here for Columbus, Ohio, at 12:30 p.m. today...
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 "Schneider Gains St. Louis". New York Times. August 16, 1930. Retrieved 2007-10-31. Eddie Schneider ... landed at Lambert - St. Louis Field at 7:04 P.M., Central Standard Time, today from Columbus, Ohio. ... He left there at 3:21 P.M. Schneider's flying time since leaving Westfield, New Jersey has been 8 hours and 38 minutes, The youthful airman said he would spend the night here, probably leaving for Wichita, Kansas, tomorrow morning
  64. ↑ "Flier Delayed. Youthful Record Seeker Lands at Wichita". Port Arthur News. Associated Press. August 17, 1930. Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old Westfield, New Jersey youth, attempting to establish a new junior transcontinental flight record, arrived here tonight at 7:45, He had left St. Louis at 1:25 pm Schneider was delayed in the arrival here by a severe wind and rain storm which visited this section late this afternoon
  65. ↑ "Schneider in New Mexico. Downed at Anton Chico, he will fly to Albuquerque this morning.". New York Times. Associated Press. August 17, 1930. Retrieved 2007-10-31. Albuquerque, New Mexico, August 17, 1930 (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old flier seeking to establish a junior transcontinental flight record, was forced to land near Anton Chico, 100 miles east of here, late today, en route from Wichita, Kansas, to Albuquerque. The young flier telephoned airport officials here he would remain overnight at Anton Chico and take off at daybreak tomorrow for Albuquerque. He is expected here about 6:30 am (Mountain Standard Time). Note: Schneider was from Jersey City, New Jersey, he left from the airport in Westfield, New Jersey.
  66. ↑ "Schneider On Last Stage of Flight". Decatur Daily Review. Associated Press. August 18, 1930. Eddie Schneider ... left Albuquerque at 7:40 a.m. (Mountain Standard Time) today for Los Angeles ... The young flyer landed here at 5:55 am from Anton Chico, New Mexico where he was forced to stop last night because of bad weather...
  67. ↑ "Schneider Is After Record". Newark Advocate. Associated Press. August 21, 1930. Eddie Schneider ... took off at 6:17:30 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time) ... He planned to make his first stop at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Despite a load of 140 gallons of gasoline, Schneider pulled his little monoplane into a fast climb and quickly was out of sight
  68. ↑ "Boy Flyer Sets Junior Air Record. Schneider Arrives from Jersey City Making Trip in 29 Hours and 11 (sic) Minutes". Los Angeles Times. August 19, 1930. Retrieved 2007-09-25. Hatless, coatless, his face chalk white in the glare of powerful flood lights, 18-year-old Edward Schneider crawled from the control cabin of his little Cessna monoplane last evening at Los Angeles Municipal Airport – new Junior transcontinental flight, air champion with a...
  69. ↑ "Junior Record For Long Hop". Newark Advocate. Associated Press. August 19, 1930. A slight, 18-year-old Jersey City youth, Eddie Schneider, today held the junior record for the fastest westward crossing of the United States
  70. ↑ "Schneider Pushes Plane. Lands at Albuquerque, New Mexico under eight hours From Los Angeles". New York Times. August 22, 1930. Eddie Schneider ... landed here today at 3:15 P.M., Mountain Time, with elapsed time from Los Angeles of 7 hours and 58 minutes ... planning to take off for Wichita, Kansas, at 7:30 A.M. tomorrow
  71. ↑ Associated Press (August 24, 1930), Youth Will Hop for N.Y. Today, San Diego Union, Youth Will Hop for N.Y. Today. Eddie Schneider, in Quest of East-West Record, Complet... The youthful birdman, who seeks the junior transcontinental speed crown, droned out of a murky sky at, Port Columbus, at 3:35 p.m., (Esstern Standard Time) today...
  72. ↑ "Schneider Off on Non-stop Flight". Decatur Daily Review. Associated Press. August 23, 1930. Eddie Schneider, eighteen-year-old Jersey City youth seeking a west-to-east transcontinental record left here at 6:15 a.m. (Central Standard Time) this morning. ... His total elapsed time to Wichita was thirteen hours and forty minutes, well under the time required by Frank Goldsborough, whose junior west-east record of twenty-eight hours and fifty-five minutes Schneider hopes to eclipse...
  73. ↑ "The Gretchen Black collection at the George H. Williams, World War I Aviation Library at the University of Texas at Dallas". University of Texas at Dallas.
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 "Letter from Gretchen Hahnen to Bertrand Blanchard Acosta". Gretchen Francis Hahnen (1902–1986).
  75. ↑ "Eddie August Schneider". Associated Press. Associated Press photo 16895, December 23, 1940; Joseph Drew; New York City. Copyright: 1940

External links

Preceded by
Frank Goldsborough		 Junior Transcontinental Airspeed Record
1930 		Succeeded by
Robert Nietzel Buck