Commander John Rodgers flew 1,992 statute miles from San Pablo, California to a point near Honolulu, although he failed to reach his objective, in Honolulu. This “failure” constituted a new world record for a non-stop flight by seaplane.
Emory Bronte and Ernest Smith were the first civilians to successfully fly from California to Hawaii, crash landing on Molokai when they ran out of fuel on July 15, 1927.
Commanded the 6th Aero Squadron, Army Air Service which became permanently stationed in Hawaii in 1917 and negotiated the purchase of Ford Island for the Army.
Tom Gunn made an impressive 25-minute flight at Schofield Barracks, circled Wahiawa on another flight, and took up Hawaii’s first passengers on July 13, 1913.
Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith and co-pilot P. G. Taylor made the first trans-Pacific flight from the Mainland to Australia landing in Hawaii on June 1, 1928 on their way to Fiji and Australia. Sir Kingsford-Smith returned in 1934 on a flight from Australia to the Mainland.
Ernest Smith and Emory Bronte were the first civilians to fly to Hawaii from California, crash landing at Molokai when they ran out of fuel on July 15, 1927.
Sun Yet Young was the first Hawaii resident to earn a pilot’s license soloing at the Curtiss flying school in Buffalo, New York on October 2, 1916. He later went on to join family friend Sun Yat-Sen in the Republic of China and at the age of 27, Young designed and flew the first Chinese built airplane.
