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On 12 January 1879, American aviation pioneer, Calbraith Perry Rodgers, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Calbraith Perry Rodgers was born into a well-known family of naval commanders. Among his ancestors were Commodore John Rodgers (born 1772, grandfather), Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (great-grandfather) and Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (great granduncle). His close relatives included Rear Admiral John Rodgers (born 1812), Vice Admiral William Ledyard Rodgers and Commander John Rodgers (born 1881). 

Despite having so many senior naval officers among his ancestors, Calbraith Perry Rodgers could not continue the family tradition. At age of six, he contracted a scarlet fever that resulted in partial deafness. Nevertheless, in the coming years Calbraith became a member of the New York Yacht Club and was interested in various motorsports. In 1911, Calbraith followed his cousin John Rodgers (born 1881), who just became the first Navy officer assigned to aviation programme.  

At the beginning of his aviation career, Rodgers was experimenting with some kites but shortly after began with pilot´s training at the Wright Brothers company. Calbraith used that opportunity and took some flying lessons from Orville Wright. Then, together with John, they decided to buy their own Wright Flyer aircraft.  

On 7 August 1911, Calbraith Perry Rodgers successfully passed his final exam and received his pilot´s license with number 49. A week later, he already took part in the 1911 Chicago International Aviation Meet and won the flight duration competition there. According to press reports from the era, the meeting in Chicago was attended by approximately 500,000 spectators. Therefore, that victory brought Calbraith an immediate fame, not mentioning more than eleven thousand USD in prize money.  

Continuing the momentum of his victory, Calbraith Perry Rodgers turned his attention to another challenge, the Hearst Prize. One year ago, an American publisher Willia

Once called the “King of the Air,” pioneering pilot Cal Rodgers is best known for completing the first 4,000+ mile transcontinental flight across the U.S. in 1911.

Born to a family of distinguished naval heroes, Calbraith (Cal) Perry Rodgers was expected to follow suit. But due to a severe childhood illness that left Rodgers almost entirely deaf, he was prevented from joining the Navy. So, he switched gears and took to the skies instead.

In 1911, Rodgers was introduced to his first aircraft at the Wright Flying School in Dayton, Ohio, where he took flying lessons from Orville Wright. In his early days as a pilot, he participated in the first aerial photography of industrial factories. Then, in August 1911, he won an $11,000 prize for staying airborne for a total of 27 hours over a period of nine days.

At the time, famed publisher William Randolph Hearst offered a $50,000 prize for any pilot who could make a U.S. transcontinental flight in thirty days or less, a feat never before accomplished. In a little over three months after he had learned to fly, Rodgers purchased an airplane and prepared to take off toward the West Coast and win the prize.

Rodgers’ Wright EX biplane was dubbed the “Vin Fiz” after his sponsor’s grape soda product. On September 17, 1911, Rodgers took off for his historic flight. Without any instruments, navigational aids, or maps, the transcontinental journey proved difficult. Rodgers had to use the imperfect method of following railroad tracks to navigate his way from town to town.

Several weeks into the excursion, the Vin Fiz crashed. It was to be the first of sixteen near-fatal crashes and several minor ones that would occur during Rodgers’ flight across the nation. In the end, the Vin Fiz was repaired so many times that the rudder, engine drip pan, and single strut were the airplane’s only original equipment when it successfully landed 49 days later.

Although Rodgers failed to win the Hearst prize, his heroic flig