What was the ‘Vin Fiz Flyer’ and why did thousands watch it land in Fort Worth in 1911?

In 1910, newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst offered $50,000 to the first aviator to fly from coast to coast. The flight had to be completed in fewer than 30 days and by Oct. 11, 1911.

Yes, the prize was big, but so was the risk. Aviation in 1911 was notable for what it lacked:

• No paved runways

• No control towers

• No radar

• No radio

• No instruments

No problem, said Cal Rodgers.

Calbraith Perry Rodgers, 32, had been given flying lessons by Orville Wright himself and owned a Wright-built airplane.

Rodgers persuaded meat packer J. Ogden Armour to sponsor his coast-to-coast flight. In return Rodgers named his airplane “Vin Fiz Flyer” after Vin Fiz, the Armour company’s soft drink.

During his flight, Rodgers would be followed by a chase train, the “Vin Fiz Express.”

In fact, he would find his way across the country largely by following railroad tracks.

On Sept. 17, 1911, Rodgers begin his trip from New York.

By the time Rodgers reached Chicago he had crashed on takeoff three times, crashed on landing once and damaged his skids three times.

From Chicago, Rodgers flew south. But by the time he reached Kansas City on Oct. 11, the Hearst deadline had passed. Rodgers had flown less than halfway to the other coast. But he decided to continue the flight.

From Kansas City, Rodgers would follow the Katy railroad track south to Fort Worth.

On Oct. 15, Rodgers was in Oklahoma. The Star-Telegram anticipated that he would reach Fort Worth by dusk.

South of town, people gathered at a pasture in the Ryan Place addition in anticipation of Rodgers’ landing there. Developer John C. Ryan had announced development of the addition only in March. By October, most of the addition was still pasture: flat and treeless. Just what a pilot needed.

But Rodgers was delayed in Oklahoma because of bad weather.

He crossed the Red River early on Oct. 17.

As Rodgers took off from Denison, his support crew notified Fort Worth that he was about 90 minutes away. To alert the populace, the Fort Worth fire department rang the big bell at the central fire station. Factory and locomotive whistles blew. Children were released from school, and businesses closed so that people could go to Ryan Place.

But over Whitesboro, Rodgers took a wrong turn and followed a railroad spur west toward Wichita Falls.

Thus, Rodgers was more than five hours late arriving in Fort Worth on Oct. 17. Nonetheless, about 9,000 people had congregated in the Ryan Place pasture.

The Star-Telegram wrote: “‘There he comes,’ exclaimed everybody simultaneously, and instantly the whistles of the roundhouses and yard engines screeched forth their blasts of welcome until their sounds were drowned by the cheering multitude as the winged ‘creature’ hovered overhead and began to gently circle to earth.”

Rodgers had flown 2,564 miles, double the existing cross-country distance record. About 500 of those miles were due to taking wrong turns.

The next morning, about 5,000 people watched Cal Rodgers take off for Dallas.

By the time the “Vin Fiz Flyer” completed the first transcontinental flight at Long Beach on Dec. 10, Rodgers had flown 4,231 miles in 4,924 minutes of air time.

He had made more than 15 crash landings. Little was left of his original airplane.

He had suffered numerous injuries, including a broken leg and lacerations from shrapnel when a cylinder exploded.

Four months later, Calbraith Perry Rodgers would be killed when his plane crashed at Long Beach — within sight of where he had finished his coast-to-coast flight.

Mike Nichols blogs about Fort Worth history at www.hometownbyhandlebar.com.