The Time Capsule: Eddie Rickenbacker: race driver to fighting ace
Eddie Rickenbacker was flying the Nieuport, a single-seat, bi-wing fighter plane, when he shot down his first German. He describes the feeling of firing tracer shells into the cockpit, shooting a fellow pilot in the back, knowing he was killing a young man.
Rickenbacker’s autobiography is worth reading just for his recollections of southwest Iowa. While most subscribers already know his first automobile race was in Red Oak, his first win in Atlantic, his book shares other experiences that took place while he was in this area.
He was 19 in 1910. He’d dropped out of school several years earlier to take a job and, through home-study courses and hard work, learned auto mechanics. His skill with early automobiles led to promotions. He was still in his teens when Firestone-Columbus sent him to Omaha to solve problems and sell cars.
County fair races were beginning to feature cars as well as horses. Prospective buyers could see both modes of transportation, judge their speed and endurance. Rickenbacker’s first race was a 25-mile contest on the dirt track in Red Oak. Collisions were common and, like other drivers, he was without a seat belt, had poor and unreliable brakes, and drove with an extra gasoline tank mounted atop a frame just behind his head. While the picture taken after his crash shows a smiling face, he was lucky to have lived. He would have countless other narrow escapes.
He met people, sold cars, and improved as a driver. From rural Iowa tracks, he graduated to Daytona and Indianapolis. He never won the Indy 500, but did well enough to buy the place. Rickenbacker helped make the Indianapolis Speedway what it is today, then moved on to other things. He became an airplane designer, manufacturer, and CEO of Eastern Airlines.
He’s mostly remembered as being America’s “Ace of Aces” during World War I. Rickenbacker envisioned a squadron composed of top race-car drivers, feeling their abilities would make them superior pilots. He had a group willing to do it, but military authorities rejected the idea. His original application for flight school was denied because, at the age of 27, he was considered to be too old. He persisted, falsified his age, re-applied and was accepted. When finally given a chance, he used his mechanical skill to get the best performance from his plane, his race-driver’s reflexes to fly it. Over the span of a few days during the summer of 1918, he shot down 18 enemy planes, plus at least one so far behind the lines it could not be confirmed. He flew missions at his discretion; taking to the air without orders, often hunting alone. He developed a curious relationship with enemy pilots, men he deeply respected, had much in common with and killed without remorse. His plane was hit repeatedly, and he often limped home or made forced landings. Rickenbacker was good and knew it, shooting down more enemy planes than any other American, but understood no matter the degree of skill, survival was also dependent on luck and Providence. His final total of 26 aerial kills does not count several that were unconfirmed, nor does it credit him for numerous attacks on artillery batteries and supply convoys.
He survived two near-fatal airplane crashes after the war, one that left him adrift in the Pacific for nearly a month. Rickenbacker founded his own automobile corporation, designed airplanes and wrote a comic strip. He became politically active, arguing for a strong military and against FDR’s New Deal programs, which he called stepping stones to Socialism.
Few people have achieved as much in as many varied endeavors as Eddie Rickenbacker.When he sat down to write his life story he included memories of adventures he had—and lessons he learned—in southwest Iowa.
Roy Marshall is a local historian and columnist for the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at news@redoakexpress.com.