Aviator, born in Columbus, Ohio, USA. A skilled racing-car driver, he enlisted in the army (1917) and became attached to General Pershing's motor vehicle staff. With help from Colonel William Billy Mitchell, he gained a transfer to the aviation service. He shot down 26 enemy aircraft in seven months, receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor and the nickname, Ace of Aces. In 1921 he founded the Rickenbacker Motor Co, but it failed (1927) and he went to work for General Motors (GM). The company employed him to rescue one of their divisions, Eastern Airlines. During his initial management year (1934), the airline turned the first profit in the history of aviation. GM divested the company in 1938 and he bought the controlling interest and became president, general manager, and director. In 1942, while on an inspection of military bases in the Pacific, his plane crashed and he spent 24 days adrift on a raft before being rescued. After retiring in 1963, he continued to be a public figure as an advocate of conservative causes.
| Edward Vernon Rickenbacker | |
|---|---|
| October 8, 1890 - July 27, 1973 | |
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Eddie Rickenbacker in his SPAD S.XIII |
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| Nickname | "Eddie" |
| Place of birth | Columbus, Ohio |
| Allegiance | U.S. Army |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards |
Medal of Honor Croix de Guerre |
| Other work |
Indy racecar driver Rickenbacker car company Indianapolis Motor Speedway Eastern Air Lines |
Eddie Rickenbacker (born October 8, 1890 – July 27, 1973) was best known as a World War I fighter ace.
Early life
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was born Edward Rickenbacher in Columbus, Ohio to German-speaking Swiss immigrants. From childhood, Eddie Rickenbacker loved machines and experimented with them, encouraged by his father's words "A machine has to have a purpose" (Rickenbacker, 1967, page 28).
Near-death experiences
In what was to become one of the defining characteristics of Eddie Rickenbacker's life, Rickenbacker nearly died many times, from an early run-in with a horse-drawn carriage, to a botched surgery, to airplane crashes.
Auto racing career
Rickenbacker participated in the formative years of auto racing as a driver.
Indy 500 results
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World War I
Eddie Rickenbacker wanted to join the Allied troops in World War I, but the U.S. had not committed.
Suspected of spying
In 1916, Rickenbacker traveled to England, with the aim of developing an English car for American races.
Eager to fight
Rickenbacker helped organize an advance group of soldiers to be ready if the United States joined the war.
Learning to fly and adversity
Most men chosen for pilot training had degrees from prestigious colleges, and Rickenbacker had to struggle to gain permission to fly because of his perceived lack of qualifications.
Because of his prodigious mechanical abilities, Rickenbacker obtained a position as engineering officer in a flight-training facility at Issoudun, where Rickenbacker practiced flying during his free time.
94th Aero Squadron
Rickenbacker demonstrated that he had a qualified replacement, and the military awarded Rickenbacker a place in America's first air-combat squadron, the 94th Aero Squadron, informally known as the Hat-in-the-Ring Squadron.
The most successful American ace at that time, Rickenbacker was dubbed by the press as America's "Ace of Aces."
When Rickenbacker learned of the Armistice, he flew an airplane above the western front to observe the cease fire and the displays of joy and comradeship as the formerly warring troops crossed the front lines and joined in celebration.
Rickenbacker was also adamantly opposed to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies, seeing them as little better than socialism.
In 1922, Rickenbacker married Adelaide Frost;
Post-war: Business and technology
Rickenbacker automobile designs
Still interested in machines, Rickenbacker started an automobile company (see: Rickenbacker), selling technologically advanced cars based on innovations discovered in automobile racing.
Managing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
In 1927, Rickenbacker bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which he would operate for nearly a decade and a half before closing it down due to World War II.
Once the Speedway operations were under control, Rickenbacker looked for additional opportunities for entrepreneurship, including sales for the Cadillac division of General Motors and various aircraft manufacturers and airlines.
Eastern Air Lines
Rickenbacker's most lasting business endeavor was his lifelong leadership of Eastern Air Lines. With the help of friends he had met in the war, or in car racing, or in other walks of life, Eddie Rickenbacker combined Eastern Air Transport with Florida Airways to form Eastern Air Lines, an airline that would grow from a company flying a few thousand air miles per week to a major international transportation company. Rickenbacker acquired historic aircraft for Eastern, including the Lockheed Constellation commissioned by Howard Hughes for Trans World Airlines (Rickenbacker, 1967, 440).
Surviving a fatal crash
Rickenbacker often traveled for business on Eastern Airlines flights, and on February 26, 1941, a DC-3 flying Eddie Rickenbacker and other passengers crashed outside Atlanta.
In a dramatic retelling of the incident, Rickenbacker's autobiography relates his astonishing experiences: while still conscious but in terrible pain, Rickenbacker was left behind while ambulances transported bodies of those killed in the accident. (Rickenbacker, 275) Rickenbacker's injuries included a dented skull, other head injuries, shattered left elbow and crushed nerve, paralyzed left hand, several broken ribs, a crushed hip socket, twice-broken pelvis, severed nerve in his left hip, and a broken left knee.
Rickenbacker describes the experience with vivid accounts of his mentality as he approached death, emphasizing the supreme act of will necessary to stave it off.
World War II
Rickenbacker supported the war effort as a civilian.
Rickenbacker served the military extensively, inspecting troops, operations, and equipment, and serving in a publicity function to increase support from civilians and soldiers.
Adrift at sea
One of Rickenbacker's most famous near-death experiences occurred during the service of the United States war effort.
For 24 days, Rickenbacker, his friend and business partner, and the crew drifted at sea without food or water aside from an occasional fish and rain.
It should be noted that Rickenbacker initially thought that he had been lost a mere 21 days, and wrote thus in a book about the experience published by Doubleday.
1943: Mission to besieged USSR
Still determined to support the U.S. war effort, Rickenbacker suggested a fact-finding mission in the Soviet Union to provide the Soviets with needed technical assistance for their American aircraft.
Gaining permission to enter the Soviet Union
Rickenbacker approached Soviet diplomats, and avoided requesting help from President Franklin Roosevelt, alluding to personal disagreements between the two.
The War Department provided everything Rickenbacker needed, including a highly unusual letter stating that the bearer was authorized to "visit ...
55,000-mile side-trip around the world
Rickenbacker's trip took him over South America, where he made important observations about conditions there. In Iran, Rickenbacker offered to bring along an American officer, whose unapproved request to travel to the Soviet Union delayed Rickenbacker's party for a few days.
Soviet information-gathering
In the Soviet Union, Rickenbacker observed wartime conditions, extraordinary dedication and patriotism by the populace, and ruthless denial of goods and services to unproductive members of society. He discovered that a commander of Moscow's defense had stayed at Rickenbacker's home in 1937, and personal connections like this and the respect the Soviet military personnel had for Rickenbacker greatly improved Rickenbacker's effectiveness at information-gathering.
Rickenbacker predicted that the Soviet Union's practices favored capitalism and that it would become a capitalist nation (Rickenbacker, 1967, 425)
Reception
Winston Churchill interviewed Rickenbacker about his mission. In the U.S., Rickenbacker's information resulted in some diplomatic and military action, but President Roosevelt ignored the information and did not meet with Rickenbacker about his groundbreaking visit to the U.S.S.R.
Post-World War II
In the 1960s, Rickenbacker became a well-known speaker.
After retiring from Eastern Air Lines, Adelaide and Eddie Rickenbacker traveled extensively, until Eddie Rickenbacker had a stroke while in Switzerland seeking medical treatment for Adelaide there.
In 1974, the Lockbourne Air Force Base in his home town of Columbus was renamed Rickenbacker Air Force Base.
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