MyGoFlight CEO Charlie Schneider Dies After Crash

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MyGoFlight CEO Charlie Schneider is being remembered as a prolific inventor, innovative businessman and dedicated family man after dying Friday from injuries suffered in a plane crash on Thursday. Schneider was flying his company Cirrus SR22 G3 Turbo near McGhee-Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, when it went down on a construction site and was consumed by a post-crash fire. An unidentified passenger died at the scene. The whole-plane parachute was deployed and AOPA says “an early assumption is that Schneider was demonstrating the SkyDisplay (HUD system made by his company) and encountered wake turbulence.” AOPA does not cite a source for the assumption.

Schneider developed a host of innovate products, from iPad coolers to versatile flight bags, but the SkyDisplay was arguably the most important. The tiny HUD, which, at $29,000, costs a fraction of those found on airliners and business aircraft, offers many of the same features. It got supplementary type certificate (STC) approval last June. AVweb interviewed Schneider about the SkyDisplay when it was unveiled at NBAA in 2016 and again in 2019 when the product was in final development (accompanying video).

Russ Niles
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. I met Charlie at OSH several years ago. I had repurposed a belt holster to carry one of his company’s water bottles, and he stopped me, introduced himself, and asked to take a look at it. We had a very pleasant chat about his company’s products (I’ve had their glass screen protectors on iPads and iPhones for a long time, and I have other of their products), about OSH, and about things in general—a very “human” sort of guy. My condolences to his family and friends.

  2. What a shame. Charlie was a great guy.. I can still hear is New York accent in my mind, as he explained his HUD and iPad mounts….

  3. I first met Nic when I sold them kneeboards to use in their first iPad case. At the time, iPad cases were appearing on the market practically one every couple months. I’m thinking, okay, I’ll play. The new designs were disappearing about as fast.

    A year later, I got to meet both Nic and Charlie at Lakeland and have dinner with them. They were going strong and that was a good sign.

    They produced some amazing products putting others to shame when it came to mounting and storing electronic devices in aircraft and multiple other applications. They were probably the most advancing company in aviation along with Foreflight.

    I’m glad Charlie got to see the good he has done and the difference made.

    Rest in peace, Sir.

    • Agreed…Charlie was extremely ambitious and like many others, I now enjoy a plethora of his company’s excellent products. We considered his HUD for our fleet of regional aircraft and conducted successful trials; however; as it’s primarily for enhanced situational awareness versus lower landing minima, we passed. At OSH last year, he had his daughter fetch me another elegant water bottle (my third, I think), and we chewed the fat for some time. A real pioneer in his own right.

      My condolences to his family, friends and associates. R.I.P.

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