Viewing page 22 of 25

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

was generally believed such a flight could not possible be done at that time. Even the Wright Brothers strongly advised against the undertaking and told him he "would never make it", while his mother was constantly trying to get him to give up the trip. Only his wife and mechanics gave him the encouragement and support. He would not give up, as he was determined to prove that aviation could develop into something more than a sport. There was  hardly a part of his body not injured and bandaged at tome point during the trip. He would pile up, dig himself out of the wreckage holding his injuries and tell his mechanics "Fix her up, boys, I'll be ready". When it is remembered that there were no facilities whatsoever for such a trip, that they had to land [[strikethrough]] into [[/strikethrough]] and [[strikethrough]] get [[/strikethrough]] fly out of whatever they could, ad provide for themselves as they went, it was indeed an enormous and extremely risky undertaking, especially considering the fragile, planes of that day. Rodgers received no [[strikethrough]]ration [[strikethrough]] monetary reward for this trip, other than the mileage payment from the Armour Company. Several thousand dollars of his own money were expended. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Aero Club of America for his achievement.

Rodgers remained on the West Coast during the winter months resting and recuperating from his rough-and tumble-trip, then toward spring he started flying some exhibitions and carrying passengers in and around the Los Angeles area, using the longer Wright-B. On April 3, 1912, while flying alone at Long Beach, he crashed into the edge of the surf and suffered fatal injuries from which he died within a few minutes. He had been flying less than a year, but earned everlasting fame. He was buried in Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. On his tombstone are written the words: "I ENDURE - I CONQUER"

Rodgers was a very serious and skillful pilot, one of the largest men in the flying game at that time and was characterized by his ever present half smoked cigar. Truly "one of the greatest" of the early aviation "Greats" in his name will forever command a leading place in the early history of aviation for his wonderful "First" to fly across the United States. His name appears on the Wright Memorial Plaque at Dayton along with the other pioneers who learned to fly on those historic grounds.

4