wrightmodelb

The caption on the print is incorrect. On the right side of the photo is seated famed early aviator J. Clifford Turpin in what is likely a Wright Model B aircraft. "Lieut. Rogers" is actually at the controls on the left side of the photo and is likely Lieutenant John Rodgers (US Naval Aviator #2). Rodgers was trained at the Wright School of Aviation in 1911 and flew from Huffman Prairie in Dayton, Ohio at the same time Cliff Turpin was a Wright Company pilot and instructor. While Rodgers was training at Huffman Prairie, he was visited by his cousin Calbraith "Cal" Perry Rodgers. Cal Rodgers became interested in aviation and he himself was instructed by the Wright Company and purchased his own aircraft. Cal Rodgers would become the first aviator to fly from coast to coast (Sept. 17 to Nov. 11, 1911) in a Wright Model EX Flyer named the "Vin Fiz". Cal Rodgers would perish in a plane crash during an exhibition flight over Long Beach, California in April 1912. Lt. John Rodgers would become Commander John Rodgers. Rodgers perished in 1926 when the aircraft he was piloting plunged into the Delaware River. Six ships were named in honor of him, his great-grandfather (Commodore John Rodgers) and grandfather (Admiral John Rodgers) – USS Rodgers and USS John Rodgers (DD-574, DD-983). John Rodgers Airport (now Honolulu International Airport, HNL) was also named after him (from Wikipedia). More here: hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation/hawaii-aviation-pioneers/john-r...

Thanks for the information TVL 1970. We'll correct the names next time we update the record.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calbraith_Perry_Rodgers en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clifford_Turpin

This is probably in late 1911. See www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?... This is probably in late 1911. "On 10 October the school conducted the first military trials of a bombsight and dropping device which had been invented by Riley E. Scott, a former coast artillery officer. The tests took place at College Park in an Army Wright B plane flown by Milling; Scott, lying prone on the lower wing, operated the bombing device, which was placed directly in front of the wing." Not long after, Scott won a $5,000 Michelin prize in a bomb-dropping competition in Paris.

Thanks for the information. Will submit for review and possible addition to the catalog record.

George A. Gray Aero Club of America Pilot # 142 June 23,1912 Atwood Park, Massachusetts Burgess-Wright Biplane