Eddie August Schneider

Infobox Person
name = Eddie August Henry Schneider


image_size = 250px
caption = Schneider circa 1930
birth_name =
birth_date = Birth date|1911|10|20
birth_place = Manhattan
death_date = Death date and age|1940|12|23|1911|10|20
death_place = Brooklyn
death_cause = Mid-air collision
resting_place = [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=schneider&GSmid=46580804&GRid=8638926&pt=Eddie%20August%20Schneider&http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=schneider&GSmid=46580804&GRid=8638926&pt=Eddie%20August%20Schneider&Fairview Fairview Cemetery]
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = American flagicon|United States
other_names =
known_for = Transcontinental record
National Air Tour
Great Lakes Trophy
Yankee Squadron
education = William L. Dickinson High School
employer =
occupation = Aviator
title = Junior transcontinental airspeed record holder
salary =
networth =
height = 5-foot, 8 inches (68 inches)
weight = 160 pounds (73 kg)
term =
predecessor = Frank Goldsborough
successor = Robert Nietzel Buck
party =
boards =
religion = Lutheran
spouse = Gretchen Frances Hahnen (1902-1986)
partner =
children =
parents = Emil August Schneider (1886-1955)
Inga Karoline Pedersen (1882-1927)
relatives =


website = [http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/ Eddie Schneider blog]
footnotes =

Quote box
width=30%
align=right
quote="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?"
source=— Eddie August Schneider on January 20, 1937|

Eddie August Henry SchneiderUnited States passport for |accessdate=2007-09-25 ]

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), a banker and stock broker, born in Bielefeld, Germany. His mother was Inga Karoline Eldora Pedersen (1882-1927), who was born in Farsund, Norway. [Inga was the daughter of Peder Andreas Pedersen (1830-?) and Serine Larsdatter (1840-1905) aka Severina Larsdatter.] Eddie had one full sibling: Alice Violetta Schneider (1913-2002) who married John Harms (1905-1985). [Alice Paula Schneider (1913-2002) was also known as Alice Violetta Schneider.] [Emil Schneider remarried after Inga death. Emil's second wife was Margaret Jacobsen (1896-1989), also from Farsund, Norway.] cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Biography of Eddie August Schneider (1911-1904) written to accompany his papers deposited at the George H. Williams, World War I Aviation Library at the University of Texas at Dallas| url=http://base.google.com/base/a/1215166/6794086788165097332 |quote=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 ] 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. ... |publisher=Gretchen Hahnen (1902-1986) |date=1948 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] Eddie reported that he intended to fly to the Pacific coast and back in August 1930. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Boy Pilot Seeks Record. Jersey City Student Set to Fly to Pacific Coast and Back in August. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20815FF395C11738DDDA90B94DF405B808FF1D3 |quote=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. |publisher=New York Times |date=July 30, 1930 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] 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. 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. His total elapsed 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 in New York on August 25, 1930, his first words were to his father: "Hello Pop, I made it."cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=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. |url=http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/2007/11/boy-makes-new-round-trip-mark.html |quote=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. |publisher=Associated Press |date=Monday, August 25, 1930 |accessdate=2007-09-25 ] He was carrying letters from the Mayor John Clinton Porter of Los Angeles, to Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Hague Greets Boy Flier. Schneider Delivers Letter From Los Angeles Mayor at Exercises. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00911FD385C11738DDDAF0A94D0405B808FF1D3 |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=August 26, 1930 |accessdate=2007-09-25 ] Combined he set three records.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Junior Flyer Sets 3 New Speed Marks. Eddie Schneider, 18, Lands in New York, Beating Goldsborough's Cross Country Records.|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/827622782.html?dids=827622782:827622782&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Aug+25%2C+1930&author=&pub=The+Hartford+Courant&desc=Junior+Flyer+Sets+3+New+Speed+Marks&pqatl=google |quote=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. |publisher=Associated Press in Hartford Courant |date=August 25, 1930 |accessdate=2008-04-15 ]

National 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. [Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, September 16, 1930, ]

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. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Reliability air tourists over West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. |url=http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/2007/11/reliability-air-tourists-over-west.html |quote=... The point standing is as follows: ... Eddie Schneider 13.156.8. |publisher=Coshocton Tribune |date=July 9, 1931 |accessdate=2008-04-19 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Russell Leads Nine Fliers in Air Tour. |url=http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/2007/11/russell-leads-nine-fliers-in-air-tour.html |quote=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. |publisher=Lima News |date=July 10, 1931 |accessdate=2008-04-19 ] cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Ford National Reliability Air Tour |url= |quote=Third place was captured by Eddie Schneider flying a Warner Scarab-powered Cessna monoplane, while Lowell R. Bayles took fourth place flying a Warner ... |publisher=Western Aerospace |date=1962 |accessdate=2007-10-31 ]

Time (magazine) wrote:

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.

Marriage

In 1932 he went to work for the Hoover Air League as co-director of the Aviation Division. He married Gretchen Frances Hahnen (1902-1986) in New York City on June 2, 1934 at the New York Municipal Building in |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] 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.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Jersey City to Get WPA Stadium Fund. Mayor Hague Reports Application for $800,000 Approved for Arena at Airport. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10A11F83A5A107A93C4AB1782D85F418385F9 |quote= 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. |publisher=New York Times |date=September 26, 1935, Thursday |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] Eddie was taking off in a Travelair 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.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Two In Plane Escape In Newark Bay Crash. Schneider, Ex-Transcontinental Record-Holder, And Student Pilot Rescued By Police. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B16F73D5B177A93C4A8178ED85F418385F9 |quote=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. |publisher=New York Times |date=May 16, 1935 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] He also taught Herbert Sargent to fly with just 55 minutes in lessons. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=He Learns to Fly in 55 Minutes. |url=http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/2007/11/he-learns-to-fly-in-55-minutes.html |quote=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. |publisher=The Richfield Reaper |date=March 21, 1935 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]

Spanish Civil War

In 1936, Eddie left for Spain to fly in the Yankee Squadron for the Spanish Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. He was recruited by a lawyer in New York City. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Aviator Says New York Attorney Is Leftist Agent. Several Indictments Are Planned in Enlistment of Fliers for Spain. |url= |quote=New York, January 15, 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. |publisher=Washington Post via Associated Press |date=January 16, 1937 |accessdate=2007-09-25 ] 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. Payment for their services: $1,500 a month plus $1,000 for each White plane brought down. ... [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Pilots, Death, Plebiscite |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757204,00.html |quote=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. Payment for their services: $1,500 a month plus $1,000 for each White plane brought down. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=December 21, 1936 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]

He was living at 50 Jones Street in Jersey City at the time.cite web |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/spanjews.pdf |title=Spanish Civil War Participants with German Surnames |accessdate=2007-11-16 |quote=Eddie August Schneider, 50 Jones Street, Jersey City |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library ] He 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 claimed he was never paid in full, and he returned to the US in January 1937. Spain claimed that they were paid in full, and were not owed any money. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=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. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3071EF938551B7A93C5A8178AD85F438385F9 |quote=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. |publisher=New York Times |date=January 17, 1937, Sunday |accessdate=2007-09-25 ] Others who flew for the loyalists included: Bert Acosta, Gordon Berry, and Frederic Ives Lord. [cite book |last=Knoblaugh |first=H. Edward |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Correspondent in Spain |year=1937 |publisher=Sheed and Ward |quote=I knew Bert Acosta, Freddy Lord, Eddie Semons, Eddie Schneider, Gordon Barry and several other of the American pilots at Valencia. They were a jolly, ... | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MQkhAAAAMAAJ&q |isbn= ] [cite book |last=Bridgeman |first=Brian |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Flyers: The Untold Story of British and Commonwealth Airmen in the Spanish Civil War |year=1989 |publisher= |quote=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 soonreturned to the USA where Acosta and Berry made headlines telling their story to an eager press.| url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=75jwRsrKB4b07gL5-bjrBg&id=tLEgAAAAMAAJ&dq |isbn=1854210548 ] 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." [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=3 U.S. Airmen Here to Explain Aid to Loyalists; Acosta, Berry, Schneider Fly to Capital With Their Attorney. |url=http://base.google.com/base/a/1215166/2257649025485377008 |quote= ... 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.'|publisher=Washington Post |date=January 20, 1937 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] The flyers had their passports confiscated, and they were to be returned when they attested that they had never forsworn allegiance to America. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Post's New Yorker |url= |quote=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. |publisher=Washington Post |date=September 22, 1937 |accessdate=2007-09-25 ]

Middle years

In 1938 Eddie stood at 5-foot, 8 inches (68 inches) and weighed 160 pounds (73 kg). [. 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."]

Death

On December 23, 1940, around 1:25 pm, Eddie was killed in an accident at Floyd Bennett Field at age 29, while training George Wilson Herzog (1903-1940). 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 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". [At the time of Eddie's death his parents were living at 6 Livingston Avenue, Arlington, Hudson County, New Jersey near Kearny, New Jersey.] 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. [Civil Aeronautics Board Investigation of July 1941, box 14] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Private Fliers Want New Queens Airport. Negotiations Under Way to Build Municipal Field. |url= |quote=Negotiations between Queens officials and private aviation units looking toward the establishment in Queens of a municipal airport for private fliers were announced yesterday in a letter from Borough President George U. Harvey of Queens to Mayor La Guardia. |publisher=New York Times |date=January 1, 1941 |accessdate=2007-05-14 ] Eddie was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Fairview, New Jersey. [ Eddie August Schneider was buried with the following family members: Gustav Schneider (1874-1925) who was Emil's brother and was married to Wilhelmine Molle (1873-1933); Gutstav's children: Theodore Schneider (1901-1979) and Edna Schneider; and Violet Schneider (1920) who died as an infant. Eddie is also buried with both his parents.] Bert Acosta attended the funeral.

Widow

On February 13, 1942 Gretchen appealed to Congress for financial relief with HR 5290 [cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A bill for the relief of Mrs. Eddie A. Schneider; without amendment (Report No. 1403) |year=1941 |publisher=Congressional Record |quote=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, ... | url= |isbn= ] Gretchen married Herbert Gray and after they divorced she married Grant A. Black (1913-1976) who was from Michigan, and they lived in Fort Worth, Texas and later Goldsboro, North Carolina. In 1961 she was given an award by the Early Fliers Club of Long Island. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Early Fliers Hail Women Aviators. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40713F83F541B728DDDA10994D1405B818AF1D3 |quote=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. ... |publisher=New York Times |date=September 18, 1961 |accessdate=2008-04-14 ] She died under the name of "Gretchen Black" in her home town of Des Moines, Iowa. [Letter; Gretchen Hahnen to Bertrand Blanchard Acosta; "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 separate cover. The books are cataloged and now known as the "Eddie Schneider Memorial Library" and I am happy about that. When I came back to Fort 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."]

Aircraft

* named the "Kangaroo".

Major air races

*1930 Ford National Reliability Air Tour (National Air Tour) Detroit, Michigan; Plane number 22. Great Lakes Trophy, and eighth place overall.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=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. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40917F9355E1B728DDDAC0894D8415B808FF1D3 |quote=Under the new formula, which made speed the most important characteristic of the modern airplane, the National Air Tour ended its 4,900-mile trip at Detroit last week as the most exacting and exhaustive demonstration ever conducted on a fleet of representative commercial and training airplanes. ... 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. |publisher=New York Times |date=October 5, 1930, Sunday |accessdate=2007-09-25 ]
*1931 Ford National Reliability Air Tour (National Air Tour) Detroit, Michigan; Plane number 17. First place for single engine planes, third place overall.

Junior transcontinental air speed record holders

*1930 Frank Herbert Goldsborough [cite news |first=Frank |last=Goldsborough |authorlink=Frank Goldsborough |coauthors= |title=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|url= |quote=May 4, 1930. Rain held me up at Colton, California, until this morning. Then heavy fog and rain made it necessary for me to wait until after 12 o'clock before it was possible to take off for Los Angeles. |publisher=New York Times |date=May 5, 1930 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]
*1930 Eddie August Schneider
*1930 Robert Nietzel Buck [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Boy flyer set to try at transcontinental record. |url= |quote= |publisher=Decatur Daily Review |date=September 27, 1930 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] [Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois; September 29, 1930; Boy aviator in quest of record. Robert Buck seeks Eddie's record.] [Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois; October 1, 1930; ; Robert Buck beats Eddie's record.]

Timeline

*1911 Birth of Eddie Schneider in Manhattan, New York on October 20
*1915 (circa) Move to Red Bank, New Jersey
*1920 (circa) Move to Jersey City, New Jersey
*1920
*1927 Death of Inga Pedersen, Eddie's mother, on December 26
*1927 Graduation from Dickinson High School in Jersey City
*1927 Trip to Norway and Germany
*1929 Became the youngest person in the United States to receive a commercial pilot certificate and the youngest certificated airplane mechanic in New York
*1930 Living at 114 Carlton Avenue in Jersey City
*1930 Sets transcontinental air speed record on |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]
*1930 National Air Tour: Won Great Lakes Trophy, eighth place overall
*1930
*1931 National Air Tour: Won first place for single engine planes, third place overall
*1932 Works for Hoover Air League
*1932
*1935 Living at 209 Sip Avenue, Jersey City
*1935 Leases Jersey City Airport on January 1
*1935 Engine dies at 100 feet and he and Fred Weigel (1904-?) crash into Newark Bay
*1935 Jersey City Airport closes to make room for sports stadium on December 31
*1936 Flying in Yankee Squadron in Spanish Civil WarAssociated Press via Oshkosh Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, January 6, |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]
*1936 Living at 50 Jones Street in Jersey City.
*1937 Moves to Manhattan from Jersey City after return from Spain
*1938 Living at 38 Broadway in Manhattan
*1940 Work at American Airlines
*1940 Registered for draft on October 16
*1940 Death in crash at Floyd Bennett Field on ]
*2007 Nominated to the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame

1930 transcontinental itinerary

* via AP]
* ]
* Columbus, Ohio departure: August 15, 1930, 3:21 pmcite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Schneider Gains St. Louis. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0814FE385C11738DDDAF0994D0405B808FF1D3 |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=August 16, 1930 |accessdate=2007-10-31 ]
* 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
* ]
* Santa Rosa, New Mexico aka Anton Chico, New Mexico [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Schneider in New Mexico. Downed at Anton Chico, he will fly to Albuquerque this morning. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20712F63A5E1B728DDDA10994D0405B808FF1D3 |quote=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." |publisher=Associated Press in New York Times |date=August 17, 1930 |accessdate=2007-10-31 ]
* via AP]
* Los Angeles, California; arrival: August 19, 1930; departure: August 21, 1930, 6:17:30 am, pst (elapsed flying time of 29 hours and 55 minutes from New Jersey to California) [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Schneider Is After Record. |url=http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/2008/04/schneider-is-after-record.html |quote=Eddie Schneider, newly crowned east-west junior transcontinental speed king, took off at 6:17:30 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time) today in an effort to establish a new west-east junior transcontinental air record. 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. |publisher=Associated Press in Newark Advocate |date=August 21, 1930 |accessdate=2008-04-13 ] cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Boy Flyer Sets Junior Air Record. Schneider Arrives from Jersey City Making Trip in 29 Hours and 11 [sic] Minutes. |url= |quote=Hatless, coatless, his face chalk white in the glare of powerful flood lights, 18-year-old Edward Schneider crawled from the control cabin of has little Cessna monoplane last evening at Los Angeles Municipal Airport – new Junior transcontinental flight, air champion with a ... |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=August 19, 1930 |accessdate=2007-09-25 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Junior Record For Long Hop. |url=http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/2007/11/junior-record-for-long-hop.html |quote=A slight, 18-year-old Jersey City youth, Eddie Schneider, today held the junior record for the fastest westward crossing of the United States. |publisher=Newark Advocate |date=August 19, 1930 |accessdate=2008-04-13 ]
* Albuquerque, New Mexico; arrival: August 21, 1930, 3:13 pm [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Schneider pushes plane. Lands at Albuquerque, New Mexico under eight hours From Los Angeles. |url= |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date= |accessdate=2007-10-31 ]
* Columbus, Ohio; August 23, 1930; August 24, 1930 [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Schneider Off on Trip to Wichita |url= |quote=Decatur, Illinois; August 22, 1930 |publisher=Associated Press |date=August 23, 1930 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] ["Schneider off on non-stop flight", Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois; August 23, 1930]
* Roosevelt Field, Long Island, 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 cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Eddie Schneider |url= |quote=August 25, 1930; Roosevelt Field, New York. Eighteen year old Eddie Schneider of Jersey City, New Jersey landed here from Columbus, Ohio at 4:03 p.m. central time Sunday with three transcontinental records in his possession. He was greeted by his admiring father, Emil A. Schneider. He related his flight to a large crowd of relatives and friends, then took his plane, the Kangaroo, to the hangar to be readied to fly to Chicago for the air show. |publisher=possibly Associated Press |date=August 26, 1930 |accessdate=2007-10-31 ] cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=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. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB081EF63A5E1B728DDDAC0A94D0405B808FF1D3 |quote= 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. |publisher=New York Times |date=August 25, 1930 |accessdate=2007-10-31 ]
* Chicago, Illinois (to attend National Air Races)

External links

* [http://richard.arthur.norton.googlepages.com/eddieaugustschneiderbibliography Eddie August Schneider bibliography]
* [http://base.google.com/base/a/1215166/6794086788165097332 Texas biography]
* [http://eddieaugustschneider.blogspot.com/ Eddie August Schneider blog]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=schneider&GSmid=46580804&GRid=8638926&pt=Eddie%20August%20Schneider& Findagrave: Eddie Schneider]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Schneider&GScid=99973&GRid=9335944&pt=Emil%20A.%20Schneider& Findagrave: Eddie's Father: Emil Schneider]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Schneider&GScid=99973&GRid=9332698&pt=Inga%20Pedersen%20Schneider& Findagrave: Eddie's Mother: Inga Pedersen]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9385586 Findagrave: Eddie's Widow: Gretchen Hahnen]
* [http://www.nationalairtour.org National Air Tour]
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/spanjews.pdf Spanish Civil War Participants with German Surnames]
* [http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam/alba_names.html Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives]
* [http://genealogy.wikia.com/wiki/Eddie_August_Schneider_%281911-1940%29 Wikia Genealogy: Eddie August Schneider]

ee also

*List of fatally crashed aviators
*1930 in aviation
*1940 in aviation

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, were 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 ; and 1942 FCC certificate. [http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/arch_repos/GUIDE.PT9b.html] [http://www.utdallas.edu/library/collections/speccoll/hacpdf/Black.pdf]
*The Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915-1998) Collection had the 1930 .
*The Associated Press has a single photo that was used by the New York Times for his obituary.
*The Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) and Nora Belle Conklin (1902-1963) Collection had the circa 1918 .
*New York State Vital Records provided the .
*Eleanor Schneider has a collection of photographs.
*Robert C. Hahnen in Hopkins, Minnesota has a collection of photographs.
*The Eddie A. Schneider Memorial Library consists of 67 books, 35 pamphlets, and a painting. They 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, while she was living in Fort Worth, Texas. They also have two photos. [Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution; page 137; Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents (1965).]

References and notes

Persondata
NAME=Schneider, Eddie August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Eddie August Schneider
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Record setting aviator of the 1930s
DATE OF BIRTH=October 20, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH=Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
DATE OF DEATH=December 23, 1940
PLACE OF DEATH=Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA