Eddie August Schneider

“We were given nothing but unarmed sports planes with which to fight, while Russian pilots were assigned regular American army planes.”

“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?”

“You can stop any plane on as small a space as an autogyro if you are willing to sacrifice the speed of your ship to do it. A little plane called the Doodle Bug has been constructed at Washington, D.C. which runs at a comparatively slow speed and lands with as short a run as the flying-windmill. The big advantage of the airplane is speed, and an autogyro with top speed 5 of 80 miles an hour will never replace a plane with cruising speed of 150 miles an hour in general popularity and usefulness.”

“Hello Pop, I made it.”

“Hey, I want to know for sure before I cut off my motor. Is this the Los Angeles Municipal airport?”

“Not that it has much bearing on the story, but 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. As for background, my grandfather was some kind of Scandinavian royalty and was thrown out of it for marrying a peasant girl.”

“I recently flew more than twelve thousand miles in a little over a month, through rain, fog, wind and snow, over mountains, cities and deserts, in a three-year-old, second-hand airplane that had already traveled some five hundred thousand miles. During that time I never was very late for an appointment or put a single scratch on myself. And considering that I am hardly an expert pilot at nineteen years of age, I knew that these statements must prove something about modern commercial aviation.”

“From the beginning I had wanted to do something with my flying. Just being able to go up in the air and come down at the same spot wasn't very exciting. Airplanes are for going places quickly, safely and comfortably. I don't know why, but my longing had always been to go to the West Coast. First, because I had never been there, and then for various reasons you fly over all sorts of country on the way, and it is the best way to see the country.”

“We named the ship the Kangaroo, because we hoped I could get to California in a couple of jumps.”

“Father was against my flying, but he's convinced now. In fact he's helping to back all my flights. All I want to do is fly.”