Floyd H. (Slats) Rodgers
McAllen, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(March 7, 1889 - July 5, 1956) Daring stunt pilot "Slats" Rodgers developed a childhood interest in kites into a career in aviation that included barnstorming, bootlegging, arms smuggling, payroll flying and crop dusting. He built his first aircraft, known as "Old Soggy No. 1," in 1912 and later flew surplus World War I aircraft. Never one to abide by the rules, Slats was fined many times by the Civil Aeronautics Administration for illegal stunts and was refused his pilot's license until he settled his fines. His crop dusting business took him to the lower Rio Grande valley in the 1930s, where he made his home for many years. He died of natural causes in McAllen and is buried in Laurel Hills Cemetery in Mission. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Floyd "Slats" Rodgers turned a boyhood love of kites into a barnstorming life in the sky, building his first airplane—"Old Soggy No. 1"—in 1912 and later flying war-surplus craft in a career that mixed stunt flying, crop dusting, and outright smuggling. A born rule-breaker, he was fined so often for illegal stunts that authorities long refused him a pilot's license. His crop-dusting work drew him to the Rio Grande Valley in the 1930s, where he settled and eventually died in McAllen.
Why it matters
Rodgers was one of the daredevil aviators of flight's wild early decades—the barnstormers and self-taught pilots who first taught America to take to the air.
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Related people
- · Floyd "Slats" Rodgers
Themes & tags
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