Robert G. Fowler
Robert Grant Fowler (August 10, 1884 – June 15, 1966) was an early aviation pioneer and was the first person to make a west-to-east transcontinental flight in stages.[1][2]
Contents
Biography
He was born on August 10, 1884.
Hearst prize
He left San Francisco, California on September 11, 1911 in an attempt to win the Hearst prize in a Wright biplane equipped with a Cole Motor Car Company engine.[3] After his first day he crashed in Alta, California.[4] His cross-country flight was finally completed February 8, 1912, in Jacksonville, Florida.
Panama Canal
After becoming the first person to traverse the United States from the West Coast to the East Coast, Fowler became the first person to make a nonstop transcontinental flight by traversing the Isthmus of Panama in 57 minutes in April 1913. Flying from the Pacific to the Atlantic along the route of the Panama Canal construction, his passenger and cameraman Ray Duhem filmed parts of the canal during the flight.[2]
That same month, pictures taken by Duhem of fortifications in the Panama Canal Zone, as well as photos of the Presidio of San Francisco (then an active military installation), were published in Sunset magazine under the title "Can the Panama Canal Be Destroyed from the Air?" After publication, the Department of War asked the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco, John W. Preston, to investigate the matter. On July 10, 1914, warrants were issued for the arrest of Fowler, Duhem, writer Riley A. Scott, and Sunset editor Charles K. Field, with Preston stating that new regulations passed by US Congress made it illegal "for a civilian to take or publish photographs of any fortification, whether complete or in process of construction.[5]
The following day the men appeared at the United States Commissioner in San Francisco, with Fowler claiming that they had received the permission of the chief engineer of the canal, Colonel George Washington Goethals before flying: "Col. Goethals not only gave his permission, but he wished us the best of luck, and said he hoped the pictures would turn out well." Their trial was set for that August 10, 1914, but by June 15, 1915, a grand jury had declined to review the case. It was ultimately dropped because evidence was insufficient.[6][7]
References
- ↑ Fowler in the World War I draft registration
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- ↑ Maria S. Burden, The Life and Times of Robert G. Fowler, (Los Angeles: Borden Publishing Company, 1999), 114. ISBN 978-0-87505-369-1.
Further reading
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