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.

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.

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."

Lowe soon secured total control, renaming the firm L-W-F Engineering, and Fowler and Willard departed in 1916.