rodgers

The date on the photograph is September 17, 1911. This is the day Cal Rodgers took off from Sheepshead Bay, New York at 4:30 pm in pursuit of the Hearst Prize. The Hearst Prize was offered by George Randolph Hearst to the first aviator to fly coast to coast across the United States, in either direction, in fewer than 30 days from start to finish. Rodgers flew a Wright EX Flyer, a modified Model B, named the "Vin Fiz Flyer". Vin Fiz was the sponsor of Rodgers and his airplane. Rodgers would eventually reach Pasadena, California on November 5, 1911, after multiple crashes and mechanical problems throughout his journey. Rodgers would not win the prize because he exceeded the 30 day requirement, and the prize itself had expired weeks earlier. However, Rodgers and the Vin Fiz Flyer would be the first to complete a journey coast to coast across the United States. Calbraith Perry Rodgers earlyaviators.com/erodgers.htm

THOMAS SLIDELL RODGERS (caption was mistranscribed, missing "d" in Rodgers) on gravestone, seen at www.arlingtoncemetery.net/thomassl.htm Death notice in NYT of March 2, 1931 query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0DE4DC1E38E03AB... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_S._Rodgers "Rear Admiral Thomas Slidell Rodgers (18 August 1858 – 28 February 1931) was an officer in the United States Navy who served during the Spanish-American War and World War I."

Thank you for this thorough research swanq. We'll make the correction to the caption and add some of the information to the record the next time we update.

Written on the negative on the left side is "Lt. Com. R.C. Bulmer." It's probably "Captain Roscoe Carlyle Bulmer, USN (4 November 1874 – 5 August 1919) was an officer in the United States Navy. His active-duty career extended from the 1890s until just after World War I." A destroyer, USS Bulmer, was named after him. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Bulmer account of his death: query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9504E0DC1338EE... article with photograph query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F04E4DC153AE0...

More detailed information and better photographs on this site: navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?c... Bulmer would appear to be the man in the front center of the photo, facing right.

According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_%28United_States_O-6%29 the stripes are those of a Captain. A photo of Bulmer on the navy.togetherweserved.com site taken in Sept. 1917, shows him with only three stripes, as for a Commander. On the other hand, Rodgers was promoted to Rear Admiral in June 1916. Puzzling!

Crew of the PN-9-1 (BuNo A-6878).