Roland Rohlfs (February 10, 1892 – February 28, 1974) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

Biography

Roland Rohlfs was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

on February 10, 1892, the son of

Anna Katharine Green Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 – April 11, 1935) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories. Green ...

, the

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

ist; and

Charles Rohlfs Charles Rohlfs (February 15, 1853 – June 30, 1936), was an American actor, patternmaker, stove designer and furniture maker. Rohlfs was a representative of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and was most famous for his skill as a furniture ...

, the

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and furniture

craftsman Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative *Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take o ...

. Rohlfs flew a hydro-aeroplane called the "Dunkirk Fighter" for

Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909–1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Curtiss, Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in ...

in 1918. Later that year he broke the

flight airspeed record An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records ...

while flying a Curtiss Wasp, his speed was clocked at 163.1 mph (262.4 km/h). In 1919 he broke another world record when he flew to an altitude of 34,610 feet in a Curtiss L-3 triplane (at - 47 degrees

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a scale of temperature, temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accou ...

). He died on February 28, 1974.

References

1892 births 1974 deaths American aviation record holders Members of the Early Birds of Aviation People from Buffalo, New York {{Aviation-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References