[1] On February 1, 1911, Rodgers, now a lieutenant, participated in an experiment under the direction of Captain Washington Irving Chambers, the first Navy officer assigned to development of the nascent U.S.

[4] On July 1, 1911, Rodgers was on a leave of absence from the Navy while the aviation facilities at Greenbury Point on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy were being prepared.

After circling the academy grounds for several turns, he set out on the 45-mile trip to D.C., following the tracks of the Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis electric line, flanked by his friends following in automobiles.

He departed College Park, Maryland, at 1:15 in the afternoon; passing over the northwestern section of Baltimore, he landed at the Pimlico racetrack, where he refueled.

Afterwards, he circled Pimlico for half an hour at various altitudes and was then off to Havre de Grace, arriving at the Rodgers home at Sion Hill at 5:35.

His father, Rear Admiral John Augustus Rodgers Sr., his mother, and brother Robert greeted him upon landing in a field 200 yards from their house.

His intention was to leave the next day for New York, where his cousin Calbraith Perry Rodgers was to depart Sheepshead Bay for San Francisco that afternoon to compete for the $50,000 Hearst Prize.

[8] In late November 1911, Rodgers was at the Navy aviation camp at Annapolis developing a life preserver for use in hydroplane flights.

Designed to keep a man afloat until help arrived, the waist and neck straps were rubber tubes that were inflated along with the rest of the vest when in use over water.

Following the war, he served in European waters and received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for outstanding work on minesweeping operations in the North Sea.

Due to the risks, the Navy positioned 10 guard ships spaced 200 miles apart between California and Hawaii to refuel or recover the aircraft if necessary.

However, higher than expected fuel consumption and a weaker than predicted tailwind made it necessary for the plane to land in the ocean and refuel.

[13] After this experience, Rodgers served as assistant chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics until his accidental death in an airplane crash after the plane he was piloting suddenly nose-dived into the Delaware River on August 27, 1926.

[16] Independently, the U.S. Navy named the airfield at Naval Air Station Barbers Point as John Rodgers Field.

With the closure of the naval base in 1999, the airfield was transferred to civilian control and renamed Kalaeloa Airport, with an FAA identification code of JRF to preserve the historical connection.

In 2007, a full-length feature screenplay, Hawaii Calls, depicting these historic events was created by Rick Helin, a California screenwriter.