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June 1st a [[strikethrough]] water flying [[/strikethrough]] float plane school was started and later a land school was also opened. The company developed new model planes and engines at a rapid pace and soon Rohlfs was truly on his way to a career in aviation. By mid-summer, 1915, the Curtiss Buffalo Division was reported to be the leading experimental station on aviation developments in the United States. In the late fall of 1915 the Curtiss Company established a mid-southern training school at Newport News, Virginia, known as the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station, under the management of Capt. Thomas S. Baldwin, veteran airman and close friend of Glenn Curtiss. Plans were [[strikethrough]] laid [[/strikethrough]] made to instruct on both land and water craft and equipment was sent to start operations.

Curtiss sent Rohlfs [[strikethrough]] was sent [[/strikethrough]] to Newport News on a special project and offered the opportunity to take flying instruction. [[strikethrough]] by Glenn Curtiss. [[/strikethrough]] Rohlfs was delighted and received his preliminary training on a Curtiss [[strikethrough]] T [[/strikethrough]] tractor from company instructor Victor Carlstrom. [[strikethrough]] He [[/strikethrough]] Rohlfs proved an apt pupil and quickly grasped the knack of flying although he did not solo at that time.

During 1916 Rohlfs continued his duties as a mechanic for the company on various assignments and became more closely related with many of the well-known Curtiss pilots, also getting as much additional flying experience as possible. That summer [[strikethrough]] he also [[/strikethrough]] at the Curtiss flying school in Florida, Rohlfs took some additional flight instructions from [[strikethrough]] instructor [[/strikethrough]] Phil Rader. [[strikethrough]] at the Curtiss Field on [[/strikethrough]] This was at Bright's Farm, [[strikethrough]] comprising an area which is [[/strikethrough]] now a part of Hialeah, Florida. While there Rohlfs made an unintentional solo flight on December 15, 1916 thus qualifying for Early Bird membership which has a closing date for eligibility of Dec. 17, 1916, 13th anniversary of the Wright brother's first flights. During the spring of 1917 while on assignment to Miami, Florida, school, Rohlfs flew for his pilot license, No. 699, dated April 25, 1917. Later that season, after the tragic death of Victor Carlstrom, Rohlfs was made a full-time experimental test pilot for the Curtiss Company. 

From the beginning of World War I [[strikethrough]] Curtiss military aviation developments [[/strikethrough]] Rohlfs was a member of the Curtiss experimental staff that turned out many new planes for both land and water use. The company was also developing new and more powerful engines which received their first flight tests in these new [[strikethrough]] model aero[[/strikethrough]] airplanes. Rohlfs' work [[strikethrough]] on [[/strikethrough]] in this program soon led to many of the notable fly-   
           
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