“AMERICA’S ACE OF ACES”

1. One of the greatest fighter pilots in American History was born on Oct. 8, 1890.  He was born Eddie Rickenbacher to Swedish immigrants. He later changed the spelling to Rickenbacker to be less German-looking.  He added the middle name Vernon because he thought it sounded classy.
2. He was a wild child. He started smoking at age 5.  He led a gang called the Horsehead Gang.  They once stole a mine car and when it flipped and fell on him, he suffered a very bad leg wound.  It was the first of many brushes with death.  He once tried to “fly” a bike with an umbrella off his roof.
3. He had to drop out of school at age 12 when his father died. He worked a variety of jobs to provide for his family.  At age 16, he became a mechanic for a race car driver who owned a car company. 
4. He became a race car driver and drove in the Indy 500 four times. He became famous as “Fast Eddie”.  He later purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.   In 1914, he set the world speed record at 134 mph.
5. Although making $40,000 as a race car driver, he enlisted in the army before the U.S. entered WWI. He was too old at 27 to be a pilot and did not have a college degree, so he was trained as an engineer.  His fame got him appointed Billy Mitchell’s chauffer (he was never Pershing’s driver).  He kept nagging Mitchell until he was allowed to train as a pilot.  He was trained by Raoul Lufbery.   He was considered a country bumpkin at first, but eventually earned the respect of the other pilots and became the head of the famous Hat in the Ring squadron.
6. Rickenbacker became “America’s Ace of Aces” by shooting down 26 German aircraft (22 planes and 4 balloons). The total was later reduced to 24.33.  His technique was to approach carefully and get close.  He was involved in 134 missions and flew an American record 300 hours.  He earned the Medal of Honor for taking on seven fighters and shooting down two (the award did not come until twelve years later).  He flew Nieuport 28s and then Spad 16s.  Most of his victories were over Fokker D.VII’s.
7. After the war, he owned a car company that introduced the first car with four-wheel brakes. The company went bankrupt because of stiff competition. 
8. He became general manager and part owner of Eastern Airlines and made it profitable. He was a strict owner and a penny pincher.  He was called “Captain Eddie”, not always affectionately.  He refused to hire female stewardesses.  He was critical of FDR’s New Deal and made radio speeches accusing Roosevelt of being a socialist.  In 1941, he was on board one of his airliners when it crashed.  He was pronounced dead, but recovered.
9. In 1942, Secretary of War Henry Stimson sent him on a tour of the Pacific, including with a memorized message for Gen. MacArthur. The B-17 bomber pilot got lost and the plane ran out of gas, crashing in the Pacific.  Although a civilian, he took charge and bullied the others into surviving.  His fedora hat was used to catch rain water.  A turning point was when he caught a sea gull that landed on his hat.  He was rescued after 22 days.  He had lost 60 pounds, but he finished his tour.  He later made a 55,000 mile, three month tour of Russia and China.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/5-fascinating-facts-americas-successful-wwi-fighter-ace-edward-rickenbacker-x.html

https://www.historynet.com/captain-eddie-rickenbacker-americas-world-war-i-ace-of-aces.htm