Robert G. Fowler
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Fowler with the Wright Model B Flyer called the "Cole Flyer" 1911
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| Born | (1884-08-10)August 10, 1884 |
| Died | June 15, 1966(1966-06-15) (aged 81) |
Robert George 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 North America in stages.[1]
He was born on August 10, 1884, in San Francisco, California.[2] He married Leonore in 1913.[1] She had been previously married.
He left San Francisco, California, on September 11, 1911, in an attempt to win the $50,000 (approximately $1,635,000 today) 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 completed February 8, 1912, in Jacksonville, Florida, after the deadline, and the prize expired without a winner.
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 on 27 April 1913. Flying from the Pacific to the Atlantic along the route of the Panama Canal construction in a single-engine hydroplane,[5] his passenger and cameraman Ray Duhem filmed parts of the canal during the flight.[1] The film when released was eventually called The Panama and the Canal from an Aeroplane.
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.[6]
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.[7][8]
The Lowe, Willard & Fowler Engineering Company, was founded on Long Island, New York, in December 1915. It was named for founders Edward Lowe Jr., Charles F. Willard, and Robert G. Fowler, and was also considered to be named after the construction it developed, the laminated wood fuselage. "Lowe provided most of the financing, while Fowler attracted Willard. Lowe soon secured total control, renaming the firm L-W-F Engineering, and Fowler and Willard departed in 1916."[9]
In 1918, Robert Fowler established the Fowler Airplane Corporation, located on Howard Street in San Francisco, to build Curtiss JN-4Ds for the U.S. Army Signal Corps.[10][11] It was one of six companies that built the design under license.[12]
He died of a heart attack on June 15, 1966, at his home in San Jose, California.[1] He was buried in the Santa Clara Mission CemeteryinSanta Clara, California.
Robert G. Fowler, an aviator who flew a biplane from California to Florida in 1911, collapsed and died, apparently of a heart attack, at his home today. He was 81 years old.
Ocean-to-Ocean Race Begins. San Francisco, California, September 11, 1911 (by telegraph) Robert G. Fowler left the stadium in Golden Gate Park this afternoon on the initial stage of his journey from ocean to ocean for the $50,000 Hearst prize. Word has been received late this evening that he finally came to a stop at Auburn, California, with 128 miles to his credit for his first day's flight, with a total flying time of 2 hours and 41 minutes. Fowler is driving a Wright biplane equipped with a Cole automobile motor. He made his start from here, cheered by a large crowd at 1:35 this afternoon and headed his biplane northeast over Oakland and the Sacramento valley. He reached Sacramento at 3:33, making the trip of 75 miles in 1 hour and 58 minutes. There, after a brief meeting with the governor, Hiram W. Johnson, he mounted to his seat and drove off again toward the distant gap in the snow line of the Sierras through which he hopes to pass. He departed from Sacramento at 5:55, James Rolph, Jr., of the San Francisco Merchants' Exchange; C.C. Moore, president of the Pacific International Exposition, and Frank L. Brown were the official starters at San Francisco. As his provisional schedule reads tonight he will make stops at Elko, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Granger and Cheyenne, Wyoming; North Platte and Omaha, Nebraska; Rock Island, Chicago, Fort Wayne, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Albany and New York City. He will follow the tracks of the South and Northwestern Railroad into Chicago. He is accompanied by a special train, which carried a full staff of mechanics and extra parts for three machines. As Fowler came into Sacramento and alighted on the fairgrounds he was cheered by a crowd larger than had ever gathered in the state capital before. His mechanicians had fairly to fight their way through it to reach the machine for the necessary grooming after the first stage of his journey. When the aviator met the governor he asked him if he had any message for the governor of New York. "You are the best message California can send," replied Johnson.
Crumpled and broken, the big biplane of Aviator Robert G. Fowler who started yesterday from San Francisco to fly across the continent for the $50,000 prize offered by William R. Hearst, lies in a rocky gorge near Alta, at an elevation of some 3,000 feet, Fowler himself is at Alta in a sanitarium.
Warrants for the arrest of Charles K. Field, editor of The Sunset Magazine and former President of the Bohemian Club; Robert J. Fowler, an aviator; Ray S. Duhem, a photographer, and Riley A. Scott, a writer, were issued today at the request of John W. Preston, United States Attorney here.
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