The Daily Register (Red Bank, New Jersey)/1940/Edward Schneider Killed In Crash At Bennett Field

Edward Schneider Killed In Crash At Bennett Field. Former Resident of Locust Point Set Many Aerial Record. Edward Schneider [sic], 28 year old, a former resident of Locust Point, was killed Monday in an airplane crash over Floyd Bennett field, Brooklyn. Mr. Schneider was a flying soldier of fortune who held many serial records when he was only 19 and who fought with the Loyalist during the Spanish Civil war. He was married and lived at 52-50 Ninety-third street, Jackson Heights, Queens, and was an Instructor for the Archie Baxter Flying school, at Floyd Bennett field. George Wilson Herzog, 37, a garage owner, of New Hyde Park, was also killed. He held a commercial pilots license and had applied for a refreshing course in connection with the Civil Aeronautics Board's training program. Mr. Schneider and Mr. Herzog had been up for an hour in a two-seater monoplane and were heading south, with the plane's landing gear down when the accident occurred. The Navy craft, a Stearman trainer biplane, had been up about as long and was going west toward the field, preparing to head into the wind. Its landing gear was down also. Witnesses said that the left strut of the Stearman's landing gear brushed against the left wing of the private plane. At the impact, the small plane went into a spin, straightened out for a moment and then plunged straight down into Deep Creek. Lieutenant Commander Don F. Smith, in command of the Naval base at Floyd Bennett field, said that a board of inquiry under Commander H. R. Bowes would make a formal investigation. Another inquiry was ordered by Joseph Hanley, Chief Assistant District Attorney of Brooklyn. Mr. Schneider was born in New York City on October 20, 1911. When he received his license in 1928 he was the youngest commercial pilot in the country. He established a trans-continental junior speed record in 1930. In the same year, flying in the Ford national air reliability tour, he won the Great Lakes Trophy for small single-motored planes. In 1935 he was manager of the Jersey City airport. In 1936 Mr. Schneider went to Spain with Bert Acosta and Gordon Berry to fight for the Loyalists. When he came back he said American flyers had been forced to use unfamiliar, old planes and that they had failed to receive the $1,500 a month each they were promised as salary. Mr. Schneider married Miss Gretchen Hahnen of Jersey City June 2, 1934. They met while she was conducting a column on aviation for the Jersey City Journal. Surviving besides his wife, is his father, Emil A. Schneider of Arlington and a sister, Mrs. John Harms.

Notes: His legal name was "Eddie Schneider" but some sources incorrectly formalized it to "Edward Schneider". He wrote in Look Out, Lindbergh - Here I Come in 1931: "because people are always asking me, my name is really Eddie: I was christened that way. It isn't very dressy, but it serves the purpose."