Rose Parade Celebrated Historic Flight to Long Beach

After aviator Cal Rodgers finished his flight from Sheepshead Bay, New York to Long Beach, CA (on December 10, 1911) making it the first transcontinental flight ever, the Pasadena Rose Bowl invited him to fly over and drop 10,000 carnations from his plane, the Vin Fiz (a replica of which is hanging in the Long Beach Auditorium lobby and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum). This photo shows the Queen of the Rose Parade greeting Cal Rodgers.

Long Beach celebrated in 2011 with a year long series of events commemorating the flight of the Vin Fiz (see http://vinfizlongbeach.com/) and its significance to aviation.