ships. After passing a night without rescue, Rodgers and his crew used fabric from a wing to make a sail and sailed towards Hawaii, several hundred miles away. Later the plane's crew used metal flooring to fashion leeboards to improve their ability to steer the flying boat while it was sailing. Finally, nine days later, after sailing the plane 450 miles to within 15 miles of Nawiliwili Bay, Kauai, the plane and its crew were found by submarine under the command of Lt. Donald R. Osborn, Jr, (USNA class of 1920), after a search by the US Navy. They were towed near the reef outside of the port. The harbor master and his daughter rowed out to the plane and helped Rodgers and his crew surf over the reef and into the safety of the harbor. By the time they were found by the submarine, Rodgers and his crew had subsisted a week without food and with limited water. He later shared with a newspaper, "We were taken care of by the good people of the island, who insisted on treating us as invalids, whereas as a matter of fact we were in very good shape and perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves." After their return, Rodgers and his crew were treated as heroes. Also, despite not reaching Hawaii by air, their flight established a new non-stop air distance record for seaplanes of 1992 miles (3206 km). 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. Legacy Six ships were named in honor of Rodgers, his grandfather and great-grandfather – and . John Rodgers Airport (now Kalaeloa Airport) was also named after him. He was a cousin of pioneer transcontinental pilot Cal Rodgers. In 2007, a full-length feature screenplay, Hawaii Calls, depicting these historic events was created by Rick Helin, a California screenwriter. As of early 2008, it is in the early pre-production stage. Update? References External links John Rodgers at Arlington National Cemetery The First Navy Pacific Flight at Hawaii Aviation 1881 births 1926 deaths Rodgers United States Naval Aviators United States Navy officers Flight distance record holders Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Burials at Arlington National Cemetery American aviation record holders Aviators from