In the fall of 1911 the airplane was still a novelty, and most Americans had never seen one. Then the Vin Fiz, flown by Calbraith Perry Rodgers on the first flight across the United States, came down in Streator. Our History of Streator mentions the landing; here is the background.
A $50,000 Challenge
In 1910 newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst offered a $50,000 prize to the first aviator to fly across the United States, coast to coast or the reverse, within 30 days. Cal Rodgers, a tall, cigar-chomping aviator from a famous naval family, decided to try. He had taken about 90 minutes of flying lessons from Orville Wright in 1911 and had just won more than $11,000 at the Chicago International Aviation Meet.
A Flying Billboard
Flying across the country was expensive, so Rodgers found a sponsor: the Armour meat company, which was promoting a new grape soda called Vin Fiz. His Wright Model EX biplane was named after the drink, and a special three-car train, with a sleeper, a diner and a rolling repair shop full of spare parts, followed him along the rails.
Across the Country
Rodgers took off from Sheepshead Bay, New York, on September 17, 1911. Crashes, repairs and weather slowed him down from the start. He reached Chicago, the only required stop, on October 8, then headed southwest across Illinois on a southerly route meant to avoid the Rocky Mountains.
Landing in Streator
Shortly after leaving Chicago, Rodgers set the Vin Fiz down in Streator, on land that is now Anderson Fields Golf Course. For a town that had probably never seen an airplane up close, it was a remarkable event. Crowds turned out, as they did at nearly every stop. Local accounts give the date as October 9, 1911, the day after his Chicago arrival, but we were not able to confirm the exact day in a primary source.
Reaching the Pacific
Rodgers never got the Hearst prize. He missed the 30-day deadline by weeks, but he kept going anyway. On November 5, 1911, he landed at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, in front of about 20,000 people. Counting about 70 stops, many of them unplanned, the trip covered more than 4,000 miles with under 84 hours of actual flying time. Repairs were so extensive that very little of the original airplane was left by the end. He then flew on to the Pacific shore at Long Beach.
Rodgers did not get to enjoy his fame for long. On April 3, 1912, during an exhibition flight over Long Beach, he flew into a flock of birds and crashed into the ocean, near where the Vin Fiz journey had ended. He died at age 33.
Remembering the Landing
Streator marked the centennial in 2011 with a historical marker at Anderson Fields Golf Course. In 2018 Walldogs artists painted a Vin Fiz mural downtown, near West Main Street, with an accompanying marker. The golf course has another aviation connection, too. Its Pluto-themed holes honor Clyde Tombaugh, who was a five-year-old on a nearby farm when the Vin Fiz came through.
Related Streator History
- Streator History Overview
- Made in Streator: The Halladay and Roamer Automobiles
- Clyde Tombaugh: The Streator Farm Boy Who Discovered Pluto
- Streator Railroads: The Santa Fe Depot, Interurbans and Coal Lines
Sources
- Calbraith Perry Rodgers – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calbraith_Perry_Rodgers
- Vin Fiz – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vin_Fiz
- Wright Model EX – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Model_EX
- Streator, Illinois – Wikipedia (Vin Fiz landing). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streator,_Illinois
- Streator Public Art – Vin Fiz mural. https://www.streatorpublicart.com/art
