Eddie Schneider
Eddie August Schneider (October 20, 1911 - December 23, 1940) set the transcontinental airspeed record for pilots under the age of twenty-one in 1930.
Birth and siblings
He was born in 1911 at 2nd Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan in New York. His father was Emil Schneider (c1880-1955), a banker born in Germany; and Inga Pedersen (1885-1927), who was born in Farsund, Norway. Eddie had one full sibling: Alice Schneider who married a Harms. Emil remarried after Inga died. Emil's second wife was Margaret and they had a child: Eleanore Schneider, who was Eddie's half-sibling.
Early years
The family moved from Manhattan to Red Bank, New Jersey and then to Jersey City, New Jersey. Eddie graduated from Dickinson High School in Jersey City in 1927, the same year that his mother died. After his mother's death, Eddie and his parents visited Germany and Norway to visit with relatives. In Germany Eddie went on an airplane ride and then aviation became his obsession. In 1929 he trained at Roosevelt Field on Long Island and became the youngest person in the United States to receive a commercial pilot's license. That same year he also received a mechanics license, becoming the youngest licensed mechanic in New York. In April 1930 Eddie was living in Hempstead, Nassau County, Long Island with a cousin from Germany named Carl Schenider (1898-?). Carl was working as a mechanic. Emil Schneider and Margaret may have been living at 114 Carlton Avenue in Jersey City in 1930. Eddie flew a Cessna monoplane number C9092.
Transcontinental air speed record
The New York Times reported on July 30, 1930 that Eddie intended to fly to the Pacific coast and back that August. On August 25, 1930 Eddie set the round-trip transcontinental record for pilots under the age of twenty-one years in his Cessna using a Warner Scarab engine. The New York Times covered each of his refueling stops in the race. He flew from Roosevelt Field in New York to Los Angeles, California in 29 hours and 55 minutes, lowering the East to West record by 4 hours and 22 minutes. He made the return trip in 27 hours and 19 minutes, lowering the West to East record by 1 hour and 36 minutes. His total time for the round trip was 57 hours and 14 minutes, breaking the preceding record for the round trip. Frank H. Goldsborough held the previous record which was 62 hours and 58 minutes. When Eddie landed his first words were to his father: "Hello Pop, I made it".
1931 National Air Tour
In 1931 Eddie participated in the National Air Tour in his Cessna and he won the Great Lakes Trophy. The following comes from a New York paper:
- The second day of the 1931 National Air Tour for the Edsel Ford Trophy today, was to find the 14 competing planes and a dozen accompanying planes en route from Le Roy, N.Y., to Binghamton, N.Y. From Binghamton, the tour is to fly south and west as far as San Antonio, Tex., returning to Ford Airport July 25. A holiday crowd of about 5,000 persons witnessed the start of the tour from the Ford Airport Saturday morning. Col. Clarence M. Young, assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, came from Cleveland to witness the start. Fifteen Army planes from Selfridge Field stunted over the field just before the takeoff and accompanied the tour planes as far as Walker Airport, Walkerville, Ont. At Walker Airport, where the tour planes stopped for a long luncheon hour, they joined the large number of planes participating in the Trans-Canada Air Pageant there. Most of the racers got off to a bad start from Ford Airport. Only flying a Mercury Chic, Capt. William Lancaster, flying a Bird and Eddie Schneider, flying a Cessna, got away on time. Leonard Flo, flying a Bird cabin plane, was delayed more than a half hour when he broke a tail skid just before the takeoff and the two Ford entries were 15 minutes late. The racers were timed from the minute they were supposed to take off. Other entries are Charles F. Sugg, Capt. Walter Henderson and Jack Story, flying Buhl entries; James H. Smart and Harry Russell, flying Ford trimotors; Joseph Meehan, flying a Great Lakes; Lowell Bayles, flying a Gee Bee; Eddie Stinson, flying a Stinson and George Dickson, flying an Aeronca. Among the well-known pilots flying accompanying planes are Maj. James H. Doolittle, referee of the tour, who is accompanied by Mrs. Doolittle and Mrs. Ray W. Brown, wife of the assistant tour starter; Capt. Lewis A. Yancey, who flew with Roger Q. Willliams across the Atlantic in 1928, who is piloting an autogiro in the tour; Walter E. Lees, Detroit pilot who holds the world's non-refueling endurance record, and George Haldeman, who attempted to fly the Atlantic with Ruth Elder. Maj. Thomas G. Lanphier, former commandant at Selfridge Field, is accompanying the tour as far as Binghamton as a passenger. Night stops after tonight will be as follows: Monday, Bradford, Pa,; Tuesday, Wheeling, W. Va.; Wednesday, Huntington, W. Va.; Thursday, Knoxviille, Tenn.; Friday, Memphis; Saturday, Birmingham, Ala.; July 12, Montgomery, Ala.; July 13, New Orleans; July 14, Shreveport, La.; July 15, Houston, Tex.; July 16, San Antonio; July 17 and 18, Fort Worth, Tex.; July 19, Ponca City, Okla.; July 20, Kansas City; July 21, Lincoln, Neb.; July 22, Omaha; July 23, Davenport, Ia.; July 24, Kalamazoo; July 25, Detroit. The tour will cover more than 6,000 miles, visiting 18 states. The Ford Trophy will go to the pilot whose plane performs most efficiently, as judged by the scoring formula, over the entire distance. A separate trophy, the Great Lakes Light Plane Trophy, will go to the pilot of the plane of less than 510 cubic inches engine displacement which makes the best score.
Marriage
In 1932 he went to work for the Hoover Air League. He married Gretchen Hahnen (1901-?) in New York City on June 02, 1934 at the New York Municipal Building. Gretchen was the daughter of Zora M. Hahnen (1882-1962) and was originally 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, Junior Club Magazine. Eddie met her at an aviation function.
Jersey City Airport
In 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.
Spanish Civil War
On November 11, 1936, Eddie left for Spain to fly in the Yankee Squadron for the Spanish Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. He was living at 50 Jones Street in Jersey City at the time. Eddie was promised he would be paid $1,500 each month and given a bonus of $1,000 for every rebel plane he shot down. He was never paid and he returned to the US in January of 1937. Others who flew for the loyalists included: Bert Acosta, Gordon Berry, and Frederick Lord. When he returned he was questioned by Chief Assistant US Attorney, John F. Dailey on January 15, 1937. Eddie's lawyer was Colonel Lewis Landes.
Middle years
In June of 1940 Eddie began work for American Airlines at Newark Airport in New Jersey. He then moved to Jackson Heights on Long Island, because the American Airlines eastern terminal had moved to LaGuardia Field. He took a job as a civilian instructor for the US Army at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn with the Archie Baxter Flying Service.
Death
On December 23, 1940, Eddie was killed in an accident at Floyd Bennett Field at age 29, while training George W. Herzog. They were flying at about 600 feet, about to land, when Navy pilot Kenneth A. Kuehner, age 25, of Minister, Ohio struck the tail assembly of Eddie's Piper Cub. Eddie's plane went into a spin and crashed into Deep Creek, just off Flatbush Avenue. Both Herzog and Schneider were dead at the scene of impact. The bodies were taken to King's County Hospital. The official cause of death was listed as "crushed chest & abdomen; hemothorax & hemoperitoneum in aeroplane crash". His obituary was published in the New York Times and the Jersey Journal of Jersey City. At the time of Eddie's death his parents were living at 6 Livingston Avenue, Arlington, New Jersey.
Burial
Eddie was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Fairview, Bergen County, New Jersey.
Archive
Eddie's papers and photographs are archived at the George H. Williams, World War I Aviation Library at the University of Texas at Dallas. They archived his NY and NJ drivers licenses; his TWA Courtesy Card; 1940 Selective Service card; and 1942 FCC license. The papers were donated by someone who had received them from a "Carl Schneider" when Carl died. Eddie lived with a relative called Carl Schneider on Long Island in 1930.
Timeline
- 1910 Birth of Eddie Schneider in Manhattan, New York
- 1915 (circa) Move to Red Bank, New Jersey
- 1920 (circa) Move to Jersey City, New Jersey
- 1927 Death of Inga Pedersen, Eddie's mother
- 1927 Graduation from Dickinson High School in Jersey City
- 1927 Trip to Norway and Germany
- 1930 Set transcontinental air speed record
- 1931 Win Great Lakes Trophy
- 1935 Leases Jersey City Airport
- 1936 Flying in Spanish Civil War
- 1940 Work at American Airlines
- 1940 Death in crash at Floyd Bennett Field
Major air races
- 1930 Ford National Reliability Air Tour
- 1931 National Air Tour
Coverage in the New York Times, New York
- New York Times, July 30, 1930, page 43, "Boy pilot seeks record"
- New York Times, August 12, 1930, page 04, "Seeks title on coast hop"
- New York Times, August 15, 1930, page 05, "Schneider halted by fog"
- 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"
- New York Times, August 19, 1930, page 03, "Schneider reaches goal"
- New York Times, August 22, 1930, page 13, "Schneider pushes plane"
- New York Times, August 23, 1930, page 28, "Schneider plans flying here today"
- New York Times, August 24, 1930, page 02, "Schneider reaches Ohio"
- New York Times, October 19, 1930, page 09, "2 claim air records from Pacific here"
- New York Times, July 05, 1931, page 12, "15 planes start reliability flight"
- New York Times, July 10, 1931, page 11, "Harry Russell leads National Air Tour"
- New York Times, July 18, 1931, page 03, "Reach Fort Worth on Air Tour"
- New York Times, July 26, 1931, page 03, "Russell again wins National Air Tour"
- New York Times, June 24, 1934, page N3, "Marriage announced of Gretchen Hahnen"
- New York Times, September 22, 1935, page 12, "Boy pilot delays flight"
- New York Times, September 26, 1935, page 18, "Jersey City to get WPA stadium fund"
- New York Times, September 30, 1935, page 24, "Boy flier reaches Indiana on long hop"
- New York Times, January 01, 1937, page 17, "Amazed by Acosta, rebel fliers fled"
- New York Times, January 16, 1937, page 03, "Flier says lawyer sent him to Spain"
- New York Times, February 06, 1937, page 04, "Lanphier was not in Spain"
- New York Times, December 24, 1940, page 15, "2 die as planes crash at field"
Selected coverage in the Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio
- Newark Advocate, August 14, 1930
- Newark Advocate, August 18, 1930
- Newark Advocate, August 19, 1930, "Schneider is after record"
- Newark Advocate, August 21, 1930
- Newark Advocate, August 23, 1930
- Newark Advocate, September 16, 1930
Selected coverage in the Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois
- Decatur Daily Review, August 22, 1930, "Schneider off on trip to Wichita"
Selected coverage in the Clearfield Progress, Clearfield, Pennsylvania
- Clearfield Progress, August 15, 1930, "Boy aviator forced to land, but arises again"
==Selected coverage in theCoshocton Tribune, Coshocton, Ohio, August 25, 1930
- Coshocton Tribune, August 25, 1930, "Boy makes new round trip mark"
