Viewing page 5 of 14

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-4-

[[2 columns]]

Oct. 29 Sierra Blanco, Tex. 9:15 A.M. | El Paso, Tex. 4:11 P.M. |

93 miles. | 143 minutes.
(Rodgers came down two miles west of the old post at Fort Hancock. The pump connection sheared off, freezing the motor. Rodgers fell five feet, the fall being broken by the mesquite, otherwise the entire plane would have been smashed. As it was, the skids were destroyed.)

" [[ditto for Oct.]] 30 El Paso, Tex. | Laid up for engine repairs.

" [[ditto for Oct.]] 31 El Paso, Tex. 9:50 A.M. | Wilcox, Ariz. 4:35 P.M. | 222 miles. | 243 minutes.

(Rodgers came down at Deming, N.M., with a broken magneto spring. At Lordsburg, the audience of a circus left the big tent to see the birdman and watched himan hour, as he examined the propeller chains, and decided that as 11 of the rollers were missing he would not stop to make the very necessary repairs.

Nov. 1 Willcox, Ariz. 11:05 A.M. | Maricopa, Ariz. 5:00 P.M. |
180 miles. | 236 minutes.

(Rodgers stopped at Tucson at 12:52 P.M. leaving at 2:51 P.M. to greet Robert G. Fowler, the other transcontinental flyer who has smashed up the day previous trying to get off the ground. Fowler watched Rodgers' ^[[X]] approach through a telescope in the U of A Observatory, and was the first to grasp his successful rival by the hand, offering congratulations and good wishes. This is the first meeting of ocean cross country aviators in the world.)

" [[ditto for Nov.]] 2 Maricopa, Ariz. 9:47 P.M. | Stoval, Ariz. 2:08 P.M. | 167 miles. | 163 minutes.

(Rodgers made a side trip to Phoenix from Maricopa. When the special train of the Vin Fiz camp arrived at Stoval two hours later, the birdman was the maddest aviator in the lands. He complained that he would have made 150 miles more if gasoline and oil had been at hand. The camp spent the night on the desert, there was no gas on the train, and Chef Davis entered a section house and cooked dinner and breakfast, otherwise starvation would have set in.

" [[ditto for Nov.]] 3 Stoval, Ariz. 7:30 A.M. | Imperial Jct. Cal., 9:45 A.M. | 65 miles. | 70 minutes.

(When 4 miles beyond Imperial Jct., and over the Salton Sea, at an elevation of 4000 feet, the No. 1 cylinder blew out, wrecking the motor, shaft case, and shaft, ^[[X]] also magneot. With remarkable nerve, Rodgers spiralled and voloplaned down four miles, making a perfect landing in a rough desert opposite the depot.)

Transcription Notes:
Note: typos transcribed as typos