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[[image - drawing of Calbraith Perry Rodgers , by Milton Caniff]]

AWARD

Calbraith Perry Rodgers
1879-1912

Learning to fly at the Wright Brothers school in Dayton, Ohio, in June 1911. Rodgers received his pilots certificate in August 1911. He began exhibition flying in his Wright airplane and won the duration contest in the Chicago International Aviation meet. 

Convinced of his ability to fly across the United States, Rodgers interested a commercial sponsor in underwriting the expenses. Naming his airplane the "Vin Fiz". He also established his own Air-Mail system. Supported by a three-car train equipped with parts and repair facilities, he took off from Long Island, New York, on September 17, 1911. Dipping his wheels in the Atlantic Ocean, he headed westward guided by railroad tracks. His meandering four thousand mile course required sixty-eight separate flights to cross the country. Sixteen major crashes occurred, requiring extensive repair and replacement of parts. Chicago was reached in twenty days, Kansas City in twenty-seven, and Texas in thirty. It took fourteen days to cross Texas alone. He completed his flight at Pasadena, California in forty-nine days on November 5, 1911. Determined to dip his wheels in the Pacific ocean, he crashed again and did not achieve his goal until December 10 1911. 

To Calbraith Perry Rodgers, for outstanding contributions to aviation by demonstrating the feasibility of transcontinental flight. This award is most solemnly and respectfully dedicated. 

Awarded December 17, 1964. At Dayton, Ohio
The Aviation Hall of Fame