Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940) bibliography

New York Times; New York City, New York

• New York Times; July 30, 1930; page 43; “Boy pilot seeks record. Jersey City student set to fly to coast and back in August. Westfield, New Jersey; July 29, 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 the late 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 monoplanes powered with a Warner Scarab motor, a far faster ship that that used by Goldsborough.”
• New York Times; August 12, 1930; page 4; “Seeks title on coast hop. Jersey boy, 18, plans start tomorrow, attempting speed record. Westfield, New Jersey; August 11, 1930. Weather permitting, Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old, Jersey City high school graduate, will take off from the Westfield Airport here at daybreak Wednesday in an effort to break the junior transcontinental speed record set two months ago by the late Frank Goldsborough. Schneider who decided today to make the attempt this week, will pilot a Cessna monoplane, powered with a 110-horse power motor, bought for him by a syndicate headed by his father, Emil A. Schneider. Only adverse weather conditions will delay the start of the flight, the youth said. He is considered an expert flier, having 275 flying hours to his credit. He plans to fly to Columbus, Ohio, and from there to St. Louis and spend the first night in Wichita, Kansas. He also plans to stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.”
• New York Times; August 15, 1930; page 5; “Schneider halted by fog. Flier was forced down for the second time in Pennsylvania.”
• New York Times; August 16, 1930; page 28; “Schneider gains St. Louis.”
• New York Times; August 17, 1930; page 23; “Schneider flies to Wichita.”
• New York Times; August 18, 1930; page 17; “Schneider in New Mexico. Downed at Anton Chico, he will fly to Albuquerque this morning. ”
• New York Times; August 19, 1930; page 3; “Schneider reaches goal. Lands at Los Angeles in record junior cross-country flying time.”
• New York Times; August 22, 1930; page 13; “Schneider pushes plane. Lands at Albuquerque, New Mexico under eight hours From Los Angeles.”
• New York Times; August 23, 1930; page 28; “Schneider plans flying here today.”
• New York Times; August 24, 1930; page 2; “Schneider reaches Ohio.”
• New York Times; September 22, 1930. “Boy pilot delays flight. Repairs postpone attempt to beat transcontinental record.”
• New York Times; September 22, 1930. “Robert Buck, 16-year-old Elizabeth, New Jersey aviator, attempting to set a new junior transcontinental flight record, landed his plane here early tonight for an overnight stop.” Robert Nietzel Buck attempting to break Eddie Schneider's record.
• New York Times; September 30, 1930; page 24; “Boy flier reaches Indiana on long hop; Robert Buck starts from Newark, New Jersey in attempt to break junior coast-to-coast record. Delayed by head winds runs out of gasoline and is forced to refuel at Martin's Ferry and Columbus, Ohio. Delayed by refueling. Father and mother see start. Indianapolis, Illinois, September 29, 1930 (Associated Press) Robert Buck, 16-year-old Elizabeth, New Jersey aviator, attempting to set a new junior transcontinental flight record, landed his plane here early tonight for an overnight stop.” Robert Nietzel Buck attempting to break Eddie Schneider's record.
• New York Times; October 03, 1930; page 27; “Buck forced down; stays at Amarillo, Texas; spends second night at Texas city after getting away and then returning. Motor fails in 70 miles youth to start again today for Albuquerque, New Mexico still confident of cross-country record.” Robert Nietzel Buck attempting to break Eddie Schneider's record.
• New York Times; October 05, 1930; page 22; “Buck in California sets flight record; New Jersey youth hour 8 minutes under Schneider's transcontinental mark.” Robert Nietzel Buck breaks Eddie Schneider's record.
• New York Times; October 19, 1930; page 9; “2 claim air records from Pacific here. Miss Ingalls and Robert Buck both complete interrupted transcontinental flights. Two transcontinental pilots, each claiming a record in flying time but each of whom has been on the way from Los Angeles for several days, landed yesterday at airports in the metropolitan district. At Roosevelt Field, Hiss Laura Ingalls of New York who is the holder of the women's ...” Robert Nietzel Buck breaks Eddie Schneider's record.
• New York Times; July 05, 1931; page 12; “15 planes start reliability flight. Leave Detroit on National Air Tour, reach Walkerville, Ontario, and go on to Leroy, New York to cover 6,000 miles after a night's rest, pilots will go on today to Binghamton, New York. End the tour on July 25, 1931. Walkerville, Ontario, July 4, 1931 (Associated Press) Continuing their 6,000-mile flight, the fifteen contesting planes of the 1931 National Air Tour which started their series of flights from Detroit ...”
• New York Times; July 10, 1931; page 11; “Harry Russell leads National Air Tour. Ten of 14 planes arrive in Knoxville, others are down. C.F. Sugg badly injured. Knoxville, Tennessee, July 9, 1931 (Associated Press) Four of the fourteen planes participating in the national air tour failed to arrive here from Huntingdon, West Virginia, today on account of a series of mishaps.”
• New York Times; July 18, 1931; page 3; “Reach Fort Worth on Air Tour”
• New York Times; July 26, 1931; page 3; “Russell again wins National Air Tour. He leads on points as fliers sweep back into Detroit from 6,590-mile trip. Ford Company gains trophy. Detroit, Michigan; July 25, 1931. More than 15,000 Detroit aviation enthusiasts saw Harry L. Russell, a pilot for the Ford Motor Company, sweep into the Ford airport today to his second victory in the National Air Tour after having covered 6,590 miles. He won by more than 9,000 points.”
• New York Times; June 24, 1934; page N3; “Marriage announced of Gretchen Hahnen. Jersey City Girl Wed to Eddie A. Schneider, Aviator, Here on June 2. 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. Miss Hahnen, daughter of Mrs. Zora M. Hahnen of Des Moines, Iowa, and Mr. Schneider met when Miss Hahnen was organizing the Jersey City Junior Aeronautical Association, of which Mr. Schneider was sponsor. In 1930 Mr. Schneider broke the transcontinental junior speed record by lowering the mark of the late Frank Goldsborough. Mr. Schneider won the Great Lakes Trophy in the Ford national reliability tour in 1930 and in the 1931 tour he won first place for single-motored planes. He was director of the aviation division of the Hoover Business League in 1932. After July 1 the couple will live in Jersey City. Mr. Schneider is the son of Emil A. Schneider of North Arlington.”
• New York Times; September 22, 1935; page 12; “Robert Buck: Boy pilot delays flight”
• New York Times; September 26, 1935; page 18; “Jersey City to get WPA stadium fund. Mayor Hague Reports Application for $800,000 Approved for Arena at Airport. 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.” Eddie August Schneider loses his airport.
• New York Times; September 30, 1935; page 24; “Robert Buck: Boy flier reaches Indiana on long hop”
• New York Times; January 1, 1937; page 17; “Amazed by Acosta, rebel fliers fled. American in sports ship flew into midst of foe thinking they were Russians. With stories of each other's adventures and none about their own, Bert Acosta, Gordon Berry, Eddie Schneider and Frederick Lord returned to Paris this morning from two months' experience in the civil war in Spain.”
• New York Times; January 16, 1937; page 3; “Flier says lawyer sent him to Spain. Schneider names New Yorker as giving him ticket to join loyalist army. Promised $1,500 a month, but he was never paid, so he quit, witness declares - tells story to U.S. officials. Eddie Schneider, 25-year-old aviator, who recently returned to the United States after serving a month in the so-called Yankee Squadron with the Spanish Loyalists, said yesterday that a New York lawyer had negotiated with him for his services abroad. Schneider, who began his career as a flier in 1928, appeared at the Federal Building, where he was questioned by John F. Dailey Jr., Chief Assistant United States Attorney. Mr. Dailey, who last Thursday questioned Bert Acosta and Gordon K. Berry, both of whom served in the same squadron, is conducting an investigation to determine if the service of the Yankee Squadron in Spain was a violation of a federal statute. That statute provides: 'Whoever, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, enlists or enters himself, or hires or retains another person to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign prince, state colony, district or people as a soldier or as a marine, or seaman on board of any vessel of war, letter or marquee, or privateer, shall be fined not more than $1,000 and imprisoned not more than 4 years.' According to Schneider, the lawyer told him that he would be paid $1,500 a month for his services in the air force and would receive a bonus of $1,000 for every Rebel plane he shot down. The lawyer, he said, gave him his steamship ticket. Schneider, in an interview with newspapermen, said that he had quit Spain because the Loyalist Government had not carried out its obligations under a contract signed in Valencia. The only money he received, he said, came from the Spanish Embassy in Paris, which paid his fare back to the United States. Colonel Lewis Landes, attorney for Schneider, interrupted to say on behalf of his client that Schneider had really quit Spain because he wished to comply with President Roosevelt's neutrality program. Schneider said that Major Thomas Lamphier was still abroad flying for the Loyalists. He said that he himself had taken part in bombing raids daily for about three weeks. The bombers, he said were remodeled sport planes, and the bombs were dropped through floor openings.”

• New York Times; February 6, 1937; page 4; “Lanphier was not in Spain. 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 ...”

• New York Times; December 24, 1940; page 15; “2 die as planes crash at field. Eddie Schneider, who started flying when he was 15 years old and set a junior transcontinental record in 1930 at the age of 18, was killed with a student passenger yesterday when their light training plane was in collision with a Naval Reserve plane, also on a training flight, just west of Floyd Bennett Field. The Naval Reserve plane landed safely at the field but Schneider's plane went into a spin, tore off a wing, and crashed into Deep Creek, a few hundred feet across Flatbush Avenue from the city airport in Brooklyn. Both Schneider and his passenger, George W. Herzog, 37, a contractor living at 535 North Second Street, New Hyde Park, Long Island, were dead when their bodies were pulled from the submerged wreckage. At the Naval Reserve base at Floyd Bennett Field it was said the Navy biplane, a Stearman trainer, had been piloted by Ensign Kenneth A, Kuehner, 25, of Minister, Ohio, with Second Class Seaman Frank Newcomer, of Rochester, Ohio, as a passenger. The right lower wing of the naval plane, the left upper wing and the propeller were damaged. The third accident, in two weeks in which a Naval Reserve plane based at Floyd Bennett Field was involved, it brought the comment from Dock Commissioner John McKenzie that it was the sort of thing to be expected 'where there are training: flights at an airport.' 'That is the point that Mayor La Guardia has been making'. Mr. McKenzie said, 'in his efforts to keep training away from commercial fields.' Police said the witnesses to the accident were agreed that the Naval Reserve plane was crossing above the plane piloted by Schneider, a high-wing Piper Tandem Cub monoplane, as the two approached the field for a landing 600 feet above Deep Creek, Schneider's plane went into a tight spin as the two planes disengaged after colliding, the witnesses said, appeared to straighten out and then plummeted into the water as its left wing tore loose. Many would-be rescuers were on the scene within, a few moments, including police, Coast Guardsmen and fliers from Floyd Bennett Field. The bodies of the two men were pulled quickly from the wreckage and onto a half-submerged barge near which the plane fell, but it appeared both had been killed when the plane hit the water. Joseph Hanley, first assistant district attorney of Kings County, opened an investigation at the scene and a naval board of inquiry, headed by Commander H. R. Bowes, was ordered convened by the Navy Department in Washington. Schneider lived at 32-50 Seventy-third Street, Jackson Heights, Queens. He leaves a widow. Herzog leaves a widow and two children. He had been flying some time, holding a limited commercial pilot's license, but had enrolled for a refresher course with the Archie Baxter Flying Service, Inc., owner of the plane. Schneider was an instructor at the school. The bodies of the two men were taken to Floyd Bennett Field pending funeral arrangements. Schneider first gained public attention as a flier in the Summer of 1930 when he announced plans for an attempt to break the junior transcontinental east-west record of 34 hours 57 minutes set the year before by 15-year-old Frank Goldsborough, who was later killed. Taking off from Westfield, New Jersey, August 14, he landed at Los Angeles four days later with a new elapsed time mark of 29 hours 55 minutes. He then flew the west-east passage in 27 hours 19 minutes to better Goldsborough's time for that flight and also for the round trip. He continued active in aviation, competing in National Air Tours, races, and as an instructor. He went to Spain in 1936 to fly for the Loyalists, but returned the next year without having collected the $1,500-a-month pay that was promised him. He and other American fliers were looked on with suspicion by many of the Loyalists, he said, because they were not Communists. Schneider had a narrow escape from death May 15, 1935, when the engine of his training plane failed and it fell into Newark Bay with him and a student passenger shortly after they had taken off from Jersey City Airport, of which he then was manager. Schneider's father, Emil, a Jersey City banker, financed his son's transcontinental flight after having first opposed his efforts to become a flier. The boy had quit school at 15 and worked as a mechanic at Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island, and at the Westfield airport to secure money for flying lessons. He was the youngest licensed flier in the country when he received a limited commercial license shortly after his eighteenth birthday in 1929.”

Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, California

• Los Angeles Times; August 18, 1930; page 1,”Young Aviator Forced Down”
• Los Angeles Times; October 2, 1930; page 1; “Boy Air Racer Reaches Texas”
• Los Angeles Times; November 22, 1936; “Yankee Pilots Foes in Spain”
• Los Angeles Times; December 25, 1936; “Bert Acosta's Flyers Ravage Rebels' Base”

Washington Post; Washington, District of Columbia

• The Washington Post; August 12, 1930; page 5; “Youth, 19, to Try Today For Record U.S. Hop. Westfield, New Jersey, August 11, 1930 (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider, 19, Jersey City High School graduate, announced today he will take off at dawn tomorrow from the local airport in an attempt to break the transcontinental speed records set two months ago by the late Frank Goldsborough.”
• The Washington Post; August 18, 1930; page 4; “Schneider Planned Take-Off at Dawn to Complete Hop to Albuquerque. Albuquerque, New Mexico, August 18, 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 (MST).”
• The Washington Post; August 24, 1930; page 4; “Schneider in Ohio On Record Flight. Clouds and Mists Compel Boy Flier to Descend at Columbus. Columbus, Ohio, August 23, 1930 (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old Jersey City aviator, will leave here on the final lap of his East-West transcontinental flight in quest of the record held by the late Frank Goldsborough at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning.”
• The Washington Post; August 25, 1930; page 1; “Boy Pilot, 18, Lowers Three Flight Marks; Eddie Schneider Lowers Goldsborough Records Through Hop. Roosevelt Field, New York, August 24, 1930 (Associated Press) Eighteen-year-old Eddie Schneider, of Jersey City, New Jersey, landed here from Columbus, Ohio, at 3:03 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) today with three junior transcontinental records in his possession.”
• The Washington Post; August 26, 1930; page 18; “Jersey City Mayor Greets Schneider; Walker Will Also Receive Boy Flier; to Take Part in National Races. Jersey City, New Jersey, August 25, 1930 (Associated Press) Eighteen-year-old Eddie Schneider, holder of three junior transcontinental flight records, was received by Mayor Frank Hague on the steps of the city hall today.”
• The Washington Post; October 10, 1930; page 11; “Cross-Country Plane Race By Woman and Boy Looms; Laura Ingalls and Robert Buck to Take Off From California Today in Pursuit of New West-East Transcontinental Records.” Robert Buck beats Eddie's record”
• The Washington Post; January 7, 1937; page 5; “Yankee Fliers Quit.”
• The Washington Post; January 16, 1937; page 7; “Aviator Says New York Attorney Is Leftist Agent. New York, January 15, 1937 (Associated Press) 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.”
• The Washington Post; January 17, 1937; page 5; “U.S. Socialists Sift Volunteers To Fight Rebels.” via Associated Press
• The Washington Post; January 20, 1937; page 5; “3 U.S. Airmen Here to Explain Aid to Loyalists; Acosta, Berry, Schneider Fly to Capital With Their Attorney. Back from the broken harvests of the bloody Spanish war, the famed triumvir of American air fighters – Bert Acosta, Gordon Berry and Eddie Schneider – flew into Washington Airport yesterday all set to do some tall explaining to the Federal Government. Apparently none the worse for the wear and tear of the bitter civil conflict, now in its sixth month, the trio who quit because 'it would be suicide to continue' and because their actions 'might not be in tune with the spirit of neutrality’, talked freely with newsmen about the reasons that motivated their enlistment. 'I was broke, hungry, jobless,' 25-year-old Schneider, who is married and has a family in New York, said. 'Yet despite the fact that all three of us are old-time aviators who did our part for the development of the industry were left out in the cold in the Administration’s program of job making. Can you blame us for accepting the lucrative Spanish offer?' While other airmen – British and French – were afforded a two-week courtesy for training, American fliers were just shown to loyalist hangars, given a plane and ordered to do their stuff. 'We were flying old crates,' Acosta said, ‘while other nationalists were given modern ships. But for the protection afforded us by Soviet pursuit planes we would not be alive now to tell you this tale.’ All three had the highest praise for the Russian flyers and nothing but scorn for the Moors. 'They are the traditional enemies of the Spaniard,' Berry said. 'Spain is not fighting a civil war but an invasion.' Denying news reports that they dropped bombs over Burgos as a Christmas Day greeting for the fascist rebel junta, the fliers said that they spent the holidays in Barcelona, the capital of the autonomous state of Barcelona. Once they stared death in the face. That was in the Catalan capitol when all unwittingly they tuned in on Rome in a restaurant radio and had a band blare forth with the Fascist anthem. 'It was a close call.' The youthful Schneider said, 'we almost got shot as agents provocateur.' Unpaid, and hearing of repercussions back home from the British Ambassador in Bilboa, the trio made up their minds to quit the conflict for good. 'This was a mess,' Schneider explained, '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.’ The three fliers were accompanied here by their attorney, Colonel Lewis Landes, of New York, an officer in the Reserve Corps. They came here voluntarily to see various Government officials, but the State Department not on their calling list. In the afternoon they had lunch at the Army and Navy Club and discussed modern fighting methods with Colonel Richards. The latter was interested in the war value of pursuit ships and questioned the trio on the observations. Tomorrow all three have an appointment with Senator Ashurst on neutrality legislation. They also will be questioned by the Justice and Commerce departments, but they did not disclose the nature of the conferences. Regarding the pay owed them by the Spanish Government, Landes disclosed that all three received ‘about $500 apiece’ Monday from ‘the Spanish counsel’ in New York. He did not disclose the latter’s identity. Meanwhile, representative McCormack (Democrat), of Massachusetts, was requesting of Secretary of State Cordell Hull a State Department inquiry into whether a Spanish consul in New York had paid American aviators to serve in the Spanish civil war. In a letter he demanded a withdrawal of the counsel’s credentials if there had been any violation of the United States or international law. McCormack told newsmen that a special House investigating committee, of which he is chairman, had revealed that ‘certain foreign governments’ had no compunction about using their diplomatic representatives to this country to further their plans and violate international laws.”
• The Washington Post; September 20, 1937; page 14; “New York, September 21, 1937. The State Department is still holding up the passport of Captain 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.”

Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Illinois

• Chicago Tribune; August 25, 1930. “Three Records Set by Boy Flyer. Schneider to Attend Air Races in Chicago. Eighteen year old Eddie Schneider of Jersey City, New Jersey landed here from Columbus, Ohio, at 3:03 p. m. (Eastern Standard Time) today with three junior transcontinental records in his possession. He will fly to Chicago tomorrow for the air races.”

The Hartford Courant; Hartford, Connecticut

• The Hartford Courant; August 15, 1930; page 2; “Rain, Fog Halt Flyer's Record Try.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 16, 1930; page 18; “Schneider At St. Louis in Record Try.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 18, 1930; page 1; “Connecticut Flyer Second In Air Race.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 20, 1930; page 11; “Hartford-Chicago Derby Flyers Will Arrive Here Today.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 22, 1930; page 2; “Hoover Sends Greetings To Air Meeting.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 23, 1930; page 2; “Schneider Lands at Wichita.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 23, 1930; page 12; photograph
• The Hartford Courant; August 24, 1930; page 8B; “Schneider at Columbus.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 25, 1930; page 2; “Junior Flyer Sets 3 New Speed Marks.”
• The Hartford Courant; August 26, 1930; page 12; photograph
• The Hartford Courant; September 12, 1930; page 1; “Airplanes Reach Chicago on First Leg Of 4,500-Mile Tour.”
• The Hartford Courant; September 25, 1930; page 16; photograph
• The Hartford Courant; October 1, 1930; page 12; photograph
• The Hartford Courant; October 4, 1930; page 6; “Buck Making Record Flight Due to Reach Los Angeles Today.”
• The Hartford Courant; October 19, 1930; page 8C; “West-East Flyers Make New Records.”
• The Hartford Courant; December 15, 1930; page 3; “Plans Flight Around the World. Boston; December 14, 1930 (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider, former holder of the junior trans-continental flight record, today announced he would hop off on a lone flight around the world next June. He said would leave from Roosevelt Field, New York, and make stops at Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Alaska, and Seattle. Schneider expects to make the flight in twenty-two days.”
• The Hartford Courant; December 24, 1940; page 5; “Two Killed When Planes Collide at Bennett Field.”

Dallas Morning News; Dallas, Texas

• Dallas Morning News; August 17, 1930; “Junior Flyer Reaches Wichita.”
• Dallas Morning News; August 24, 1930; “Jimmy Haizlip Wins in Air as Flyer Wife Gets out of Hospital.”
• Dallas Morning News; August 25, 1930; “German Ocean Flyers Reach Nova Scotia.”
• Dallas Morning News; September 12, 1930; “End First Leg of Sky Tour.”
• Dallas Morning News; September 29, 1930; “National Air Tour Success.”
• Dallas Morning News; September 30, 1930; “Buck Lands Ship at Columbus, Ohio.”
• Dallas Morning News; July 17, 1931; “Air Tour Flyers Land during Rain at San Antonio.”
• Dallas Morning News; January 6, 1937; “U.S. Flier, Bombing Rebels for Madrid, Eyes Death, Lives.”
• Dallas Morning News; January 16, 1937; “Paid $1,500 Month to Bomb Fascists, Yank Flier Says.”

Christian Science Monitor

• Christian Science Monitor; August 19, 1930; “Junior Flight Record Set by 18-Year-Old Boy. Los Angeles (Associated Press) A slight, 18 year-old Jersey City youth, Eddie Schneider, today held the junior record for the fastest westward crossing of the United States. Landing at the municipal airport at dusk yesterday, the young flier completed his transcontinental crossing in a total flying time of 29 hours, 41 minutes, just 4 hours, 22 minutes less than required by the former holder, the late Frank Goldsborough, of New York. Schneider left Westfield, New Jersey August 14, 1930, flying only during the daytime. He said he experienced much stormy weather along the route and damaged his plane slightly once when he struck a tree in landing at Altoona, Pennsylvania.”
• Christian Science Monitor; Friday, August 22, 1930; “Junior Pilot Flies Over San Bernardinos. Albquerque, New Mexico (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider took off at 7:55 a.m. Aug. 22 for Wichita, Kansas, on the second lap of his attempt to lower the junior ...”
• Christian Science Monitor; July 8, 1931; “Ford Tour Pilots Reach Columbus. Columbus, Ohio, July 8, 1930 (Associated Press) Pilots in the Edsel B. Ford Reliability Tour checked in at Port Columbus here today in the following order: ...”

• Christian Science Monitor; November 23, 1936; “Wings Over Neutrality. A cable to relatives in New York announces that three crack American aviators have arrived at Valencia to aid the Spanish Government. One is Bert Acosta, who flew the Atlantic with Rear Admiral Byrd in 1927. He is ranked in the trade as a "natural" at flying, one of the most deft and intuitive flyers that ...”

Coverage in other periodicals

• Newark Advocate; Newark, Ohio; Thursday, August 14, 1930; “Youth is after junior record. Westfield, New Jersey, August 14, 1930 (Associated Press) 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. The present record was established by the late Frank Goldsborough, who made the trip in 33 hours, 35 minutes. He plans to make his first stop at Columbus, for fuel and a second refueling stop at St. Louis. At Wichita, Kansas, he plans to spend the night while a 250 gallon tank is fitted into his plane. The last stage of the flight will be to Alhambra, California, which he hopes to reach by tomorrow night.”
• Clearfield Progress; Clearfield, Pennsylvania; Friday, August 15, 1930; “Boy aviator forced to land, but arises again. Stultz Field, Williamsburg, Pennsylvania; August 15, 1930 (International News Service) Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old Jersey City aviator, took off from here for Columbus, Ohio, at 12:30 p.m. today. Schneider, attempting to lower the junior transcontinental flying record set by the late Frank Goldsborough, was forced down here after rain and low clouds had forced him to descend at Huntington and Water Street, Pennsylvania, yesterday. Schneider refueled his 110 horsepower Cessna monoplane here and said he would stop to refuel again at Columbus. Flying conditions west were reported favorable.”
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; Sunday, August 17, 1930; “Youthful flyer lands in Wichita. Wichita, Kansas; August 16, 1930 (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider, eighteen-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. It was thought for a time he had been forced down somewhere between here and St. Louis. He was delayed in taking off from St. Louis by low visibility and threatening storms. The junior flyer's elapsed time from Westfield to Wichita was 14 hours and 58 minutes.”
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; Monday, August 18, 1930; “Schneider On Last Stage of Flight. Albuquerque, New Mexico; August 18, 1930 (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old pilot attempting to set a new junior transcontinemtal flight record, left Albuquerque at 7:40 a.m. (Mountain Standard Time) today for Los Angeles, expecting to finish his flight from New York without another stop. 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. The weather between Albuquerque and Los Angeles was favorable for Schneider's final hop. He hoped to reach Los Angeles by 1 pm (Pacific Standard Time).”
• Van Wert Daily Bulletin; Van Wert, Ohio; Monday, August 18, 1930; “Albuquerque, New Mexico. August 18, 1930 (International News Service) Eddie Schneider, the 18-year-old who is attempting to set a new junior transcontinental speed flight record , took off from Albuquerque, New Mexico at 8:05 o'clock this morning for Los Angeles, his final destination. He hopes to make the final leg of the fligt without a stopover. Schneider was forced down yesterday evening in Santa Rosa, East of here by a storm and spent the night there. He landed her at 5:30 am today, breakfasted leisurely, went over his plane, refuelled and then took in quest of the new record. He claims to be several hours ahead o the old record.”
• Newark Advocate; Newark, Ohio; Monday, August 18, 1930; “Boy pilot in air. Albuquerque, New Mexico; August 18, 1930. (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider 18 year old pilot attempting to set a new transcontinental flight record left Albuquerque at 7:40 am (Mountain Standard Time) today for Los Angeles expecting to finish his flight from New York without another stop.”
• Newark Advocate; Newark, Ohio; Tuesday, August 19, 1930; “Junior record for long hop. Los Angeles, California, August 19, 1930 (Associated Press) A slight, 18-year-old Jersey City youth, Eddie Schneider, today held the junior record for the fastest westward crossing of the United States. Landing at the municipal airport at dusk yesterday, the young flier completed his transcontinental crossing in a total flying time of 29 hours, 41 minutes, just 4 hours, 22 minutes less than required by the former holder, the late Frank Goldsborough, of New York. Schneider left Westfield, New Jersey August 14, 1930, flying only during the daytime. He said he experienced much stormy weather along the route and damaged his plane slightly once when he struck a tree in landing at Altoona, Pennsylvania.”
• Newark Advocate; Newark, Ohio; Thursday, August 21, 1930; “Schneider is after record.” via Associated Press
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; Friday, August 22, 1930; “Schneider Off On Trip To Wichita. Albuquerque, New Mexico, August 22, 1930 (Associated Press) Eddie Schneider, eighteen year old pilot, left at 7:55 a.m. today (Mountain Standard Time) today for Wichita, Kansas, on the second lap of his attempt to lower the junior west-east flight record of twenty-eight hours and thirty-five minutes, established by the late Frank Goldsborough. Schneider will stop at Wichita tonight and expects to reach New York tomorrow. His elapsed time from Los Angeles to Albuquerque was seven hours, twenty-eight minutes. He lost half an hour in circling to get over the San Bernardino mountains because of his heavy load of gasoline. His magneto compass also failed him and he was forced to fly by dead reckoning.”
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; Saturday, August 23, 1930; “Schneider off on non-stop flight.”
• Decatur Evening Herald; Decatur, Illinois; Monday, August 25, 1930; “Sets junior transcontinental record, formerly held by Frank Goldsborough, boy ace who died in a crash recently, was lowered by Eddie Schneider, 18 year old flier, who made east to west crossing in elapsed flying time of 29 hours, and 41 minutes. Goldsborough's time was 34 hours and 3 minutes. Eddie is here seen being congratulated upon arrival at Los Angeles airport by Colonel Richard Barnitz, manager of the field.
• Coshocton Tribune; Coshocton, Ohio, Monday, August 25, 1930; “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. 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. Bucking strong winds, Schneider flew from Columbus to New York in a single day. He was not tired, he said, but hungry, having gone without food on the entire last leg of his trip. He plans to fly today to Chicago, where he will compete in the national air races. Young Schneider said he was impressed with the vast wastes in the west where he flew for more than 100 miles without sighting signs of habitation. He also was surprised, he said, at the large number of air hitchhikers. He refused rides to scores. The young pilot brought with him a letter from the Mayor of Los Angeles to Mayor Walker of New York and one to Mayor Hague of Jersey City, Schneider's home town.”
• Times Recorder; Zanesville,Ohio; Monday, August 25, 1930; “Eddie Schneider Sets Junior Flying Records Roosevelt Field, New York, August 24, 1930. Eighteen-year-old Eddie Schneider of Jersey City, New Jersey landed here from Columbus, Ohio, (Eastern Standard Time) today with three Junior transcontinental records in his possession. Beating the three records set by the late Frank Goldsborough, who was killed recently In a crash, he chalked up the following marks: east-west, 29 hours and 41 minutes; west-east, 27 hours and 19 minutes; round trip, 57 hours. The Goldsborough records were: west-east, 34 hours. 3 minutes; west-east. 28 hours, 55 minutes and round trip, 62 hours, 58 minutes. Battling a storm part of the way, the smiling Junior flier came from Columbus to Roosevelt Field in one hop today, slicing one hour and 36 minutes from Goldsborough's mark for the coast-to-coast crossing.”
• Van Wert Daily Bulletin; Van Wert, Ohio; Wednesday, August 27, 1930; “Waving a cheery hello, Eddie Schneider, 18-year-old Jersey City youth quits his Cessna monoplane on completion of hs record flight from Los Angeles, California. Schneider's time of 26 hours and 38 1/2 minutes for the eastward coast-to-coast trip broke the late Frank Goldsborough's junior record by 1 hour and 29 1/2 minutes. Schneider now holds both junior records. His time for the westward flight is 29 hours and 21 minutes. (International Newsreels)”
• Newark Advocate; Newark, Ohio; September 16, 1930; “Girl and boy of 19 are interesting pair in this year's Ford airplane tour”
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; Saturday, September 27, 1930; “Boy flyer set to try at transcontinental record.” Robert Nietzel Buck seeks Eddie's record.
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; Monday, September 29, 1930; “Boy aviator in quest of record.” Robert Nietzel Buck seeks Eddie's record.
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; October 1, 1930; “Boy flier hops off second time.” Robert Nietzel Buck beats Eddie's record.
• Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; Sunday, October 5, 1930; “Boy flier plans return air trip.” Robert Nietzel Buck beats Eddie's record.
• The Helena Independent; Helena, Montana; Sunday, October 19, 1930; “New transcontinental air speed marks were established today, one by a boy of 16 and the other by a young woman who already held records for barrel rolling and looping. The first in was Miss Laura Ingalls. who landed at Roosevelt field with a flying time of 25 hours and 35 minutes from Los Angeles. A little later Robert Buck dropped down at the Newark airport after 20? hours and 4? minutes in the air since leaving Los Angeles. Buck beat the Junior record made recently by his friend, Eddie Schneider. Miss Ingalls didn't beat any record because no woman had ever made an oficially recorded flight from the west coast before, but she established a mark for other women to shoot at. Buck brought back with him junior record for both west and east directions and Miss Ingalls would have had two records too, If she had not had such keen competition. She flew out in 30 hours and 27 minutes, but before she ... to turn around ... start back Mr. Keith Miller cut the record 21 hours and 44 [minutes].”
• Coshocton Tribune; July 9, 1931; “Reliability air tourists over West Viginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. ... The point standing is as follows: ... Eddie Schneider 13.156.8 ...”
• Lima News; Lima, Ohio; July 10, 1931; “Russell leads flyers in air tour. Murfreesboro, Tennessee, July 10, 1930 (INS) 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.”
• Time magazine; August 03, 1931; “Ford's Reliability. For the second consecutive year shock-haired Pilot Harry L. Russell flew a trimotored Ford into Ford airport near Detroit last week to win the Edsel Bryant Ford Trophy for reliability in the National Air Tour. His easy victory over a field of 14 gave the Ford company its second leg of the current trophy (three consecutive victories gives permanent possession). Only once in the 6,590-mi. tour was Pilot Russell pressed for leading position, and then it was by Pilot James H. Smart flying another Ford, which finished second. Smart nearly caught up with Russell when the leader became lost over the mountains of Kentucky and failed to find Middlesboro. Later Russell had to fly back from Knoxville, Tennesee, and touch at Middlesboro to escape heavy penalties. 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.”
• Richfield Reaper, Richfield, Utah; Thursday, March 21, 1935; “He Learns to Fly in 55 Minutes. 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.”
• The Daily Courier; Connellsville,Pennsylvania; Tuesday, November 24, 1936; “Bert Acosta Joins Loyalist Air Force. Valencia, Spain, November 23, 1936. Acosta, American trans-Atlantic aviator, Eddie Schneider, former manager of the Jersey City, New Jersey, airport, and Major Fred A. Lord of New York, British world war ace, left Saturday for Muraa to join the loyalist air force.”
• The Ironwood Daily Globe; Ironwood, Michigan; Friday, November 27, 1936; “Yank Against Yank. One of the amazing developments in the Spanish civil war which might conceivably involve the United States Is penned by an Eastern writer. He reveals that high over Madrid's maze of streets and wide boulevards American aviators are stalking each other in the high above the bull rings of Old Spain are engaging each other in mortal combat, and the price on each man's head is a thousand dollars. While it seems incongruous some of those fighting on opposite sides in the Spanish war were the best of friends before they decided to become brave bold knights of the sky. Several of them trained together at Fitld(?) in the east under the same instructor yet now, unknown to themselves, they are mortal enemies, seeking each others life. The American aviators were recruited in New York by agents of the two warring factions in Spain. They have no interest in the outcome, nor do they actually know what the fighting is about. All they know is that they have a chance to make 'big money' fighting for the honor of one side or the other. That big money is a salary of $500 a month and $1,000 for every plane each shoots down. One of these days Americans mav be shocked to learn that Bert Acosta, associate of Rear Admiral Byrd in the flight to France in 1927, has been killed in action. Or it mav be 26-year old Eddie Schneider of Jersey, holder of many flying records, or Gordon Berry, or it may be Major Fred Lord who served with the British flying service during the world war, shooting down 22 German planes. Those well known men are now piloting war planes high over Madrid because they were lured to Spain by the chance for big money.”
• Oshkosh Northwestern; Oshkosh, Wisconsin; January 6, 1937; “American aviators through with Spain. Paris (Associated Press) 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. But, they said, they were not paid, and money was their only reason for joining up. The flyers protested they were given nothing but unarmed sports planes with which to fight, while Russian pilots were assigned 'regular American army planes.' The American warplanes were said to be machines built in Russia through contracts giving the soviet government permission to copy American models. The flyers said both the socialist and fascist air forces in Spain were staffed almost entirely by foreigners.”
• Jersey Journal; Jersey City, New Jersey; December 24, 1940; “Local pilot dead. Eddie A. Schneider, 29, veteran pilot and former holder of the junior transcontinental speed record for airplanes, was instantly killed yesterday afternoon when a small monoplane in which he was giving a refresher course to another pilot was struck by U.S. Naval Reserve plane at Floyd Bennett Airport, Brooklyn. Schneider’s plane, one wing sheared off, plummeted in a tight spin into an inlet of Jamaica Bay, causing instant death to Schneider and his student, George W. Herzog, 37. Schneider, a native of New York City was a resident of Jersey City until a few years ago. He became interested in aviation while still a student at Dickenson High School, Jersey City, causing him to leave school when 15 to go to work as a plane mechanic at old Roosevelt Field Hempstead, Long Island. Schneider during his career in aviation broke the East-West, West-East and round trip junior transcontinental records in 1930 in his famous red Cessna monoplane, when only 18. He crossed the continent from Westfield Airport, New Jersey, to Los Angeles in 29 hours and 41 minutes, breaking the record of the late Frank Goldsborough. Eddie was at one time the youngest licensed commercial pilot and competed in air races and meets with men far more experienced and older than he was, after carrying off first honors. In the Ford National Reliability Tours of 1930 and 1931. Schneider with his red Cessna, carried off the Great Lakes Trophy one year, and then took first place the next year. In one of the air tours a defect in a propeller caused the engine of his plane to break loose while flying over a mountainous section of Kentucky, and Schneider made a forced landing in a corn patch on a side of the mountain. A new engine was rushed to him and after an extremely difficult takeoff, which experienced airmen, said was not possible, he went on to win first place in the tour. Schneider in 1934 became the manager of the old Jersey City Airport at Droyers Point, operating the filed for a period of a little more than a year. While at the airport he taught many Hudson County students how to fly. Schneider had a narrow escape in 1935 when a Travelair biplane in which he and a student were taking off from the airport landed in Newark Bay after the motor suddenly went dead at 100 feet of attitude. The plane was only slightly damaged in the forced water landing. Schneider and the student Al Clemmings, wading to shore. In 1936 Eddie with Bert Acosta and three other pilots, enlisted in the Yankee Escadrille of the Loyalist Air Corps in Spain. For several months Schneider was flying antiquated planes, which had been rigged up with racks, dropping bombs on military objectives of the Franco forces. Schneider finally became thoroughly disgusted with the Communist regime, which he said was directing the Loyalist forces, and after many difficulties, returned to this country. Since returning from Spain, Schneider, a licensed airplane mechanic since he was 15, worked for American Airlines, first at Newark Airport and then at La Guardia Airport, New York City, first as a mechanic, then as instrument inspector. About six months ago he resigned his post with American Airlines to take a position as student instructor with the Archie Baxter Flying Service teaching Civil Aeronautics Authority students to fly. Yesterday afternoon Schneider took Herzog, a resident of New Hyde Park, Long Island, up for a refresher course. Herzog, holder of a commercial license, had allowed the license to lapse, and was required to take dual flying time before his license would be renewed. Schneider was flying at about 600 feet altitude, coming in for a landing, when a United States Naval Reserve biplane piloted by Ensign Kenneth A, Kuehler, 25, of Rochester, Ohio, was observer, struck the tail assembly of Schneider’s tandem Piper Cub. The tails surfaces and left wing of Schneider’s plane were badly damaged and as the two planes separated after the mid-air collision, the small monoplane went in a tight spin, striking Deep Creek several hundred feet from Flatbush Avenue and sinking. The Naval Reserve plane was able to land at the airport. Airport emergency crews raced to the spot where Schneider’s plane had submerged and the bodies of Schneider and Herzog were taken from the plane within a very few minutes after the crash. Attempts were made to to revive the two, but a Kings County Hospital ambulance intern pronounced both dead on arrival at the scene. It is believed that both were killed by the impact of the plane with the water. The bodies were taken to Kings County Hospital and Schneider will be released today and brought to Jersey City for funeral services. Herzog is survived by a widow and two small children. Schneider lived in Jersey City at 114 Carlton Avenue in the Hudson City section when he established the transcontinental records.”

Correspondences

• Gretchen Hahnen (1902-1986) to Bert Acosta (1895-1945); June 30, 1953. My dear Bert: I was so glad to see this article in the paper, though I knew you were in Denver. A man, whose name I cannot remember, came into the office last spring, he's a flyer, and told me where you were, and that you were getting along fine. I feel terrible not to have written long before this and I am afraid you will think I am not a very good friend, but I have thought of you often and said many prayers for you and now they are being answered. I thought you might like to have this clipping. Do you remember that I had the original picture of you officially receiving the Pulitzer Speed Trophy and wanted it? The reason I didn't give it to you was because I was afraid you would lose it. Several months ago, I sent that picture along with my complete aviation library of 127 books, to the National Air Museum at the Smithsonian Institution and that is where it is now. They sent me a copy of the picture and I am mailing it to you under seperate cover. The books are catalogued and now known as the "Eddie Schneider Memorial Library" and I am happy about that. When I came back to Forth Worth from New York in 1948, I gave all of Eddie's scrap books, international license signed by Orville Wright and other licenses to the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences in New York. I knew that if anything happened to me, there probably wouldn't be [anyone] who would care about them and that is why I sent all the stuff away. I am delighted to hear that you are going to start writing your memoirs. I have often thought of the opportunity I had when we were living with you and Gloria to have jotted down many of the things you told us to be used for just such a purpose, but now you have lots of time to look over the past and I hope you will. I seldom hear from anyone back East, let alone see them. I hear from Casey Jones once in a while, also Viola Gentry, who is working in New York. Saw Clarence Chamberlin on TV not long ago and he said he was completely out of aviation, though the last time I heard from him, he had been in Bellanca a couple of years ago. After my divorce from Herb Gray, I stopped over in Kansas City on my way to New York, to see Carl Schneider, remember him? His address is P.O Box 23, Muncie, Kansas, in case you ever want to contact him. There was an article in the newspaper last week about Al Baumler, who the last time I saw him he was a Major in the Air Force and is now an Airman 1st Class and is in ... the Americans Millie Lord and I met in France and later in Alicante, and it was through him, that she and I eventually got to Valancia where you and Dingle and Eddie were. Its funny, but I can remember every detail of that trip to Spain. I shall never forget the day you all sailed and when Eddie asked me to have a last drink with him, I started to bawl, you came over, knocked my chin up with your fist, "If your going to drink, smile when you do it." The impact knocked all my tears right and left, and it really helped me to tell him goodbye. I have loads of clippings left, and Eddie's diary on that Spanish deal, so if you need any refreshers, let me know. The enclosed picture is of my mom, who visited us in February for a month and my present husband, and I might add, my last, come what may. She is still full of life and vinegar and can drink me under the table despite the fact I am 20 years younger than she. Three years ago she ran for Republican committeewoman in her district, and won! She was 71 last January. We had a wonderful time when she was here, and she and Grant immediately became buddies. Though I have had two marriages end in tragedy, I am hoping this will last a long time. My husband is a great guy, has over 16 years in the Air Force, over nine of them as a Master Sergeant. He is a Yankee, thank God, no more Texans for me. Gray was a Texan and he told me once, that Texans considered their battle and women in the same category, and that strictly wasn't for me. However, he didn't go haywire mentally, until all of my $10,500 was gone, and now I am as poor as a churchmouse again, but at least I am very happy. ... and electronics specialist. You'd like him, Bert, and vice versa. They are shipping people out of here very fast, but we seem to stay on and watch everyone else leave, however, our turn will come along one of these days. My fervent hope, is that it wouldn't be Limestone, Maine; Rapid City, South Dakota; or Roswell, New Mexico. Of course our preference would be March Field near Los Angeles or that other one near San Francisco, but of course we will have no choice. I wouldn't mind being sent to Europe, France, Germany, Norway, England or even Casablanca, why be in the Air Force and stay in one place? Fort Worth is a nice place, but I've got itchy feet. This is the third summer in a row now that we have suffered with intense heat, up around 104 degress every day, and I don't like it. Both of us would like Denver, it is a really swell place and who knows, you might see us there sometime. Bert, I wont keep on yaking, you must be half dead now after reading all this stuff, but I want you to know I am pulling for you and am so happy you are on the road to recovery. If you are able, I would love to hear from you. Take care of yourself now and with lots of love, I'll close. Mrs. Grant A. Black, (Gretchen Schneider), 6109 Halloway Street, Fort Worth, Texas.

Texas biography

• 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 Dickinson High School. In 1928 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. In October 1929 he received his commercial pilot's license and so became the youngest commercial pilot in the United States at age eighteen. He also received in that year, his aircraft and engine mechanic's license and so again he became the youngest licensed aircraft mechanic. In August 1930 he succeded in breaking Frank Goldsborough's Junior Transcontinental record from New York to Los Angeles in 29 hours and 55 minutes, lowering the previous record by 4 hours and 22 minutes. He made the return trip in 27 hours and 19 minutes, lowering the previous record by 1 hour and 36 minutes. His total time for the round trip was 57 hours and 14 minutes, thus breaking the preceding record for the round trip, which was 62 hours and 58 minutes. His A.I.I. license was signed personally by Wilbur Wright. Following his transcontinental flight, Eddie flew to Chicago where he was one of the ouststanding personalities at the National Air Races. While there, he was highly complimented for his ability to avoid an air crash over the crowded grandstand, a crash which had it occured, would have cost a number of lives. Schneider had just taken off in his Cessna (with a Warner Scarab engine) monoplane from the Chicago field bound for the balloon races at Cleveland, when he saw the crowd scatter below. Noticing the panic, he looked up and saw the 40 foot left wing of a twenty passenger Buranelli transport plane directly over his. The youthful aviator saw passengers in the Buranelli scramble to the other side of the cabin to tilt the the sloping wing. The danger of the crash was great, and in an instant, Schneider sent his plane diving just as the Buranelli's wing scraped his. The crash was averted by the 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. He then entered in the Ford National Reliability Tour, the youngest pilot to have ever been so honored by an aircraft company. These tours were in reality effeciency races for commercial airplanes flying over a course of five thousand miles, which undoubtably made these races the longest commercial aircraft races in the world. Schneider completed the tour with further honors, winning first place for single engine aircraft and the Great Lakes Trophy. Incidently, he was the first pilot to fly a Cessna throughout the itinerary. Others had been entered in previous tours, but none had finished. Returning to New York, Schneider put in considerable time appearing in smaller air shows, where he attracted hordes of boys and girls to whom he spoke on any and all occasions, impressing upon them always the fact that any one of them could do what he was doing; that aviation belonged to them; that they should grasp the opportunity presented to them. In 1931, the Ford National Reliability Air Tour found Eddie once again a Cessna entry. During the race, the propellor broke and, causing him to lose his engine and so forced him out of the race for three days. This happened over the mountains of Kentucky. After pleading and cajoling with the Warner Company in Detroit, he made the neccesary repairs with a new propellor and had been given permission to reenter the race. Naturally when he reentered the race, he found himself in last place and way behind the leaders, but he gained on his fellow pilots until on the last day, he found himself in first place again for a single engine aircraft and was the winner the second time of the Great Lakes Trophy. In 1932 he became chief pilot for the Hoover Business League. After that he became a student instructor until 1935 when he leased the Jersey City Airport in New Jersey and managed it and conducted his own flying school, aerial photography and charter work. At that time he one of the largest flying schools in the East with over one hundred and twenty-five students. And so he carried on. No flying club was too small or insignificant to win his willing cooperation in the furtherance of their plans. It was at the meeting of the Jersey Journal Model Plane Club that he met his wife, Gretchen Hahnen, who then lived in Jersey City, but was from Des Moine, Iowa. They were married in New York City on June 02, 1934. In December 1935, after a unsuccesful battle to save Jersey City Airport from becoming a stadium, he did exhibition flights and was an instructor at several New Jersey airports. By 1936, flying jobs were hard to come by. Schneider was "invited" to go to Spain and fly for the Spanish Loyalists. He accompanied Bert Acost, Gordon Berry and Freddie Lord. They left New York on November 11, 1936 and arrived in Spain a week or so later. There he flew antiquated planes, but got disgusted and gave up, and came home, in January 1937. Between then and June of 1940 he bacame a mechanic for American Airlines at La Guardia Field, but his heart was not into it, he wanted to fly. He applied to the US Government for a job as a civilian instructor for the Army and was assigned to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. On December 23, 1940, while instructing a student and coming in for a landing, he was hit in the rear by a Navy Stearman which brought Eddie, and his student, to their untimely death. When the Navy plane landed, it still had Schneider's plane's left wing in their undercarriage. And so, aviation, as an industry, owes a debt of gratitude to it's younger contingent, such as Frank Goldsborough, Bob Buck and Dick James and others who followed, and to these youthful trail blazers who were constantly winning new recruits to the ranks of those who look uopn aviation as a part of themselves and to whom the industry must continue to look for its new leaders.

Books

• "In 1933 Eddie Schneider became the principle operator of the Jersey City Airport at Droyer's Point. The airport, a popular general aviation field, was ordered closed the city council under the iron fist of Mayor Frank Hague, on December 31, 1935. Scurrying to find a new base of operations, Schneider planned to establish a flying school at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, but first joined Bert Acosta and other American pilots to fly for the Loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War. When money promised to the mercenary airmen was not forthcoming, they returned to the United States and picked up their flying careers. Schneider's Brooklyn flying school afforded him a living in the late Depression years. Then tragedy struck in December 1940. While giving a flying lesson to George Herzog of Brooklyn, Schneider's plane collided with one flown by a naval Reserve pilot Ensign Ken Kuehner, and crashed killing him and his student. The Navy plane landed safely. Eddie Schneider was only 28 years old." Source: H. V. Pat Reilly; Balloon to the Moon (1992); ISBN 0963229508