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YOUR PURCHASE OF THESE BOOKS SUPPORTS THE WEB SITES THAT BRING TO YOU THE HISTORY BEHIND OLD AIRFIELD REGISTERS

Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references to pilots and their aircraft is available at the link. 375 pages with black & white photographs and extensive tables

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The Congress of Ghosts (available as eBook) is an anniversary celebration for 2010.  It is an historical biography, that celebrates the 5th year online of www.dmairfield.org and the 10th year of effort on the project dedicated to analyze and exhibit the history embodied in the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ. This book includes over thirty people, aircraft and events that swirled through Tucson between 1925 and 1936. It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders. Order your copy at the link.

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Military Aircraft of the Davis Monthan Register, 1925-1936 is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Art Goebel's Own Story by Art Goebel (edited by G.W. Hyatt) is written in language that expands for us his life as a Golden Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build a business around his passion.  Available as a free download at the link.

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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race (available as eBook) is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Clover Field: The first Century of Aviation in the Golden State (available in paperback) With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great. 281 pages, black & white photographs.

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EDDIE AUGUST SCHNEIDER

Eddie Schneider, Ca. 1940 (Source: NYT)

 

Eddie Schneider appeared once in the Clover Field Register, on Saturday, August 15, 1931 at 3:05PM. He was solo in the Cessna he identified as NC9092 (Model AW; S/N 152). Based in New York City, he identified his destination as Cleveland, OH. He wrote "National Air Derby" in the destination column. He identified himself as the owner of the airplane. Photograph, right, was from The New York Times, December 24, 1940 (see below).

Schneider's first claim to fame was a junior trans-continental speed record that he set August 18, 1930, just a year before we meet him at Santa Monica. His feat was reported in The New York Times of August 19, 1930, below. Other Register pilots held the record near the same time, including Frank Goldsborough and Bob Buck.

The New York Times, August 19, 1930 (Source: NYT)

 

What brought Schneider to Santa Monica was the National Air Races (NAR). The 1931 NAR were held at Cleveland, OH from August 29-September 7. The trans-continental handicap air derby originated at Santa Monica and ended at Cleveland that year. Schneider was among about a dozen other fliers on the same Register page who identified their flights as related to the NAR. He was either a competitor in the trans-continental derby, or he was flying along as a spectator along the way. The latter was probably the case, because the 1932 Aircraft Yearbook, which reported on the results of the 1931 NAR, made no mention of Schneider in any of the events.

It was a busy summer season for Schneider. Earlier, in July 1931, Schneider competed in the National Air Tour for the Edsel Ford Trophy. This was the last of the National Air Tours and Schneider, the youngest entrant, placed third overall. A table from the link, chapter 7, lists the results. The technical specifications of his airplane, his final score and winnings are listed in the third row of the table. He flew the same Cessna in the Air Tour that he brought to Santa Monica in August. He carried a single passenger during the Tour, Ollie Walker.

The nicely summarized biographical and genealogical information below appeared at ancestry.com at the link, posted on January 26, 2005. The information is supported by newspaper articles. I have transcribed the information here, since I don't know how long the link will remain active. If you find it no longer works, please let me KNOW. I also added links to relevant Delta Mike Airfield, Inc. people and entities.

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:
Eddie 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 Schneider (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 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 [The New York Times reported 29 hours, 41 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 Field 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 his first words were to his father: "Hello Pop, I made it".

1930 National Air Tour:
After setting the transcontinental speed record he entered in the Ford National Reliability Air Tour, which is sometimes called the National Air Tour and he won the Great Lakes Trophy.

1931 National Air Tour:
In 1931 Eddie again participated in the Ford National Reliability Air Tour in his Cessna and he won first place for single engine airplanes. 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 [sic; should be Gordon Barry], 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:
In 1940 Eddie was living at 3250 73rd Street in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York. 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 Sets transcontinental air speed record
1930 National Air Tour: Won Great Lakes Trophy
1931 National Air Tour: Won first place for single engine planes
1935 Leases Jersey City Airport
1935 Almost crashes in Jersey City
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 aka National Air Tour
1931 Ford National Reliability Air Tour aka 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 other newspapers:
Coshocton Tribune, Coshocton, OH, August 25, 1930, "Boy makes new round trip mark"
Clearfield Progress, Clearfield, PA, August 15, 1930, "Boy aviator forced to land, but arises again"
Newark Advocate, Newark, OH, August 19, 1930, "Junior record for long hop"
Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, IL, August 22, 1930, "Schneider off on trip to Wichita"
Coshocton Tribune, August 25, 1930, "Boy makes new round trip mark"
Newark Advocate, Newark, OH, September 16, 1930, "Girl and boy of 19 are interesting pair in this year's Ford airplane tour"
Coshocton Tribune, July 09, 1931, "Reliability air tourists over WV, KY, and TN"
Jersey Journal, Jersey City, NJ, December 24, 1940, "Local pilot dead"

The report in The New York Times (NYT) of Schneider's wedding to Gretchen Hahnen is below, left. The crash that took his life was reported in The Times of December 24, 1940, right.

Schneider/Hahnen Wedding, The New York Times, June 24, 1934 (Source: NYT)
Eddie Schneider Crash, The New York Times, December 24, 1940 (Source: NYT)

Schneider also landed once and signed the Peterson Field Register, Colorado Springs, CO. His visit was on Monday, September 22, 1930. Please direct your browser east to the link for additional biographical information about Schneider, his family, and other Golden Age aviation events he participated in.

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A detailed biography appears at Schneider's findagrave.com entry. It is preseved below from the link.

Eddie August Henry Schneider (1911-1940) was a record holding aviator. He was the youngest licensed pilot and the youngest licensed airplane mechanic in the United States when he received his licenses. In 1930 he set the east-to-west and west-to-east transcontinental airspeed record for pilots under age 18. In 1931 he won the Great Lakes Trophy. In 1937 he fought for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War with Bert Acosta. He died in a plane crash in 1940 when a Navy trainer clipped the tail of his aircraft and he crashed. (b. October 20, 1911; 2nd Avenue and 17th Street, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA - d. December 23, 1940; Deep Creek and Flatbush Avenue, Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York City, New York, USA) 

Parents:
Emil August Schneider (1886-1955), a banker born in Germany; and Inga Karoline Eldora Pedersen (1885-1927) who was born in Farsund, Norway. His father, Emil, remarried after his wife, Inga, died. Emil's second wife was Margaret Jacobsen (1896-1989), and they had a child.

Birth:
He was born on October 20, 1911 at 2nd Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan, New York City.

Siblings:
Eddie had one full sibling: Alice Violetta Schneider (1913-2002) who married John Harms (1905-1985). 

New York to New Jersey:
The family moved from Manhattan, New York City to Red Bank, Monmouth County, New Jersey and then to Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey. 

Drop out of school:
Eddie appears to have dropped out of school at age 15, but later graduated from Dickinson High School in Jersey City around 1927 or 1928.

Death of mother:
In 1927 his mother, Inga, died. The remaining family then visited Germany and Norway to be with relatives. 

Aviator:
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. In April 1930 Eddie was living in Hempstead, Nassau County, Long Island with a friend named Carl Schenider (1898-?) who was not related. Carl was working as a mechanic. Emil Schneider and Margaret may have been living at 114 Carlton Avenue in Jersey City in 1930. The New York Times reported on July 30, 1930: "Boy Pilot Seeks Record; Jersey City Student Set to Fly to Pacific Coast and Back in August." 

Junior transcontinental air speed record:
On August 25, 1930 Eddie set a round-trip transcontinental record for pilots under the age of twenty-one years in his Cessna. The elapsed time was 57 hours, and 14 minutes between Los Angeles and Jersey City. When he landed at Roosevelt Field on Long Island his first words were to his father: "Hello Pop, I made it". The previous record holder was Frank H. Goldsborough (1910-1930) who died in a plane crash on July 16, 1930. Robert Nietzel Buck said on June 28, 2005: "I didn't know him well and only met [him] a couple of times, but I remember him as a quiet, good looking blond, and very modest. I believe he was a credit to aviation and I always admired him."

National Air Tour:
In 1930 and 1931 Eddie participated in the National Air Tour and he won the Great Lakes Trophy. 

Hoover Air League:
In 1932 he worked for the Hoover Air League. 

Marriage:
He married Gretchen Hahnen (1902-1986) in Manhattan in New York City on June 2, 1934. Gretchen 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 Club function. Their certificate was number "14174".

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 stadium. The New York Times reported on September 26, 1935 on page 08: "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."

Spanish Civil War:
On November 11, 1936, Eddie left for Spain to fly for the Loyalists in the Revolution. He was living at 50 Jones Street in Jersey City at the time. Eddie was never paid what he was promised and he returned to the US in January of 1937. On January 01, 1937 the New York Times reported: "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." The New York Times on January 16, 1937 stated the following: "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." In the late editions of The New York Times on January 16, 1937, and in the early edition 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 [Attorney]. 

American Airlines:
In 1940 Eddie stood at 68 inches and weighed 158 pounds. He had blond hair and blue eyes and had a scar on his right thumb. In June of 1940 he began work for American Airlines at Newark airport in New Jersey. He then moved to Jackson Heights on Long Island, when American Airlines eastern terminal 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 in plane crash:
On December 23, 1940, Eddie was killed in a training accident at Floyd Bennett Field at age 29 when he was training George W. Herzog (c1900-1940). He was 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. His obituary appeared in the Jersey Journal and The New York Times on December 24, 1940. His death certificate lists the cause of death as "crushed chest & abdomen; hemothorax & hemoperitoneum: in aeroplane crash". He was living at 3250 93rd Street in Brooklyn when he died. His Death Certificate number was "25366" and his Medical Examiner Case Number was "4418".

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 succeeded 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 outstanding 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 occurred, 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 efficiency races for commercial airplanes flying over a course of five thousand miles, which undoubtedly 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. Incidentally, 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 propeller 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 necessary repairs with a new propeller 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 unsuccessful 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 Acosta, 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 became 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 upon aviation as a part of themselves and to whom the industry must continue to look for its new leaders." (Source: Gretchen Hahnen)

Obituary:
New York Times: "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."

Obituary:
Jersey Journal: "Local Pilot Killed. Eddie Schneider and Passenger Die in Crash. 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."

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 New York and New Jersey driver's licenses; his Trans World Airline (TWA) Courtesy Card; 1940 Selective Service card; and 1942 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license. 

Rediscovery:
Both Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921-2009) of Jersey City, New Jersey and Muriel Elaine Jensen (1928- ) of Chicago, Illinois knew of Eddie Schneider and was told he was related to the family somehow. The relationship is through Eddie's mother who was from Farsund, Norway. Selma's sister had a photograph and a newspaper clipping of Eddie which initiated this research. Richard Arthur Norton writes in 2017: "My mom told me he was related, but I knew the entire German side of my family, and he did not fit in. I was in Chicago at a family reunion for the Norwegian side of the family in 2005, and someone asked who Eddie Schneider was. He said he was taken up in his airplane in Chicago in 1930 or 1931. That made me start researching him. I found his obituary in the New York Times which gave me his death date, so I ordered his death certificate. When I got his death certificate, I saw his mother was Norwegian. I then ordered her death certificate and saw that her father was in the family tree."

Relationship:
Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940) was the second cousin, twice removed of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ); and was the second cousin, twice removed of Judith Kaye Grothe (1947- ).

Research:
Researched and written by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) for Findagrave starting on April 15, 2004 and last updated on October 1, 2009. Updated on March 4, 2017 with the anecdote on his rediscovery."

 

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 07/26/16 REVISED: 01/13/18