Evening star., 1934-06-25
WEDELL, AIR SPEED
KING, DIES IN FALL.
Texas Flyer Held Worlds
Record With 305 Miles
Per Hour.
BY the Associated Press.

r. Jimmy" Wedell, "a, daring speed
flyer and holder of the world land
plane speed record of 305.33 miles per
hour, is dead, the victim of a tragic
crash while teaching a student to fly.
The New Orleans and Patterson avi-
ator was killed late yesterday in the
crashing to earth of small. English
built Gypsy Moth plane in which he
was teaching Frank Sneeringer of Mo-
bile, Ala, how to be a pilot.
Within two minutes after Wedell and
Sneeringer took off from the Patterson
airport of the Wedell- Williams Air
Service Corporation here the plane
went into a nose dive down into a
muddy rice field a mile south of the
airport from height of 200 to 300
feet.
Feet Caught in Plane
Wedell was killed outright. His skull
was fractured, his body was crushed
and his feet were caught in the floor
boards of the plane.
Sneeringer was reported dangerously
hurt, but hopes are held for his re-
covery. He lapsed into apparent un-
consciousness en- route to the hospital
Harry P. Williams of New Orleans
and Patterson, president of the Wedell-
Williams Air Service Corporation, flew
10 Patterson from New Orleans on word
of the accident.
He said the student, a husky fell
low, apparently froze at the controls
and Wedell was unable to dislodge
him.
He examined the plane and an
nounced that it would be Salvaged.
After talking to witnesses Williams
asserted that the airplane bearing
Wedell and Sneeringer went into left
bank, then into half roll and oived
straight into the ground at high speed
The aviation world mourned for
the flyer, who held many speed
records in dashes between cities and
focal points of the United States
Canada and Mexico, as we'll as priced
records in competitive national and
international air events which he won
during the past three years of his
record-breaking career.
In Australia Race.
wedell was one of 16 crack Amer
lean flyers entered in the $4,000
London-to n-to-Melbourne. Australia, race,
set for next October. For several
months he had been conditioning a
plane and making preparations for the
flight.
Wedell broke into aviation as a
youngSter with salvaged plane, which
he purchased for several hundred dol
lars in his native section, Texas City
Tex, close to the border He had only
one hour of flying instruction before
he built plane and made it fly.
He took the plane in the air with
two Texas City buddies as passengers
and few to big cattlemen's barbecue
down the Texas coast, at Ell Campo.
There he picked out place to land
and took up 200 passengers at SIS
each, and after he got back in Texas
City he had his start with his first
$1,000 in the bank
His career after that reads like a
novel. He flew to Army headquar-
ters and to Navy headquarters and
tried for enlistment, ~ neither the
Army nor the Navy would accept him
because he had lost the sight of one
eye in boyhood accident. Then he
formed an association with Mexican
generals and border runners which
he would discuss not at all. but would
only grin when thu subject was
broached.
Jimmy and his brother Walter, two
years younger, began transforming
together and developed night flying
without lights.
On one of his expeditions Jimmy
and a companion came down with a
stalled motor in the Gulf of Mexico
off Mermentau River. and were two
days and three nights getting away
On another trip Jimmy came down
in a COW pasture at Patterson. Harry
williams went out to see the ship ano
was impressed.
They organized company and
bought a fleet of planes for regular
service, bought and built airports, and
Wedelrs transforming days were
ended.
Saved Baby's Life.
He captured the admiration of the
Nations parents when he flew seri-
ously i'll baby 1,400 miles through
wind, fog and snow from Houston to
the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Balti-
more last December.
Sue Trammel. the 6-months-old
baby, was suffering from water on
the brain and Houston physicians ad-
vised her frantic parents to rush her
to Dr. Walter E. Dandy, noted brain
surgeon The family learned that
Wedell was spending the holidays with
his brother, near Houston. They
sought his aid, and he responded SO
quickly that he took off with baby
nurse, parents and grandmother
aboard, still in his shirt sleeves.
Despite reports of bad weather
lhead, Wedell kept on. Passenger and
mail planes in this vicinity had been
grounded by the weather. but late
that night Wedell brought his ship
CDErrAI NnrICRo