Sunday night invited talk: The flight of the Vin Fiz II

In 1911, less than 8 years after the Wright Brothers flew their rickety “Flyer” less than a minute along the dunes at Kitty Hawk NC, Calbraith Perry Rodgers flew a similar craft from New York City to Long Beach California. At a time when most airplanes couldn't manage to turn on demand, Rodgers flew over 4,000 miles through good weather and bad to be the first to cross the United States by air. It was an amazing accomplishment and one that took incredible fortitude and courage. It is also almost universally forgotten.