Robert G. Fowler
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. Biography He was born on August 10, 1884, in San Francisco, California. He married Leonore in 1913. She had been previously married. Hearst prize He left San Francisco, California, on September 11, 1911, in an attempt to win the $50,000 (approximately $ today) Hearst prize in a Wright biplane equipped with a Cole Motor Car Company engine. After his first day he crashed in Alta, California. His cross-country flight was completed February 8, 1912, in Jacksonville, Florida, after the deadline, and the prize expired without a winner. 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 on 27 April 1913. Flying from the Pacific to the Atlantic along the route of the Panama Canal construction in a single-engine hydroplane, his passenger and cameraman Ray Duhem filmed parts of the canal during the flight. The film when released was