At the age of 18, Rowley  obtained his pilot’s license after his solo flight in a Curtiss Oriole. He was a weather observation pilot and graduate meteorologist for the Signal Corps before becoming a Fixed Base Operator. From 1937 to 1940 he served as project manager for the Curtiss Airplane Company, and in 1943 he was appointed chief of the flight test department at Boeing Wichita. Elton was instrumental in the development of the B-29 and its subsequent modifications to accommodate the atomic bomb. While at Boeing, he was also chief of flight testing for the B-47 Stratojet, the United States’ first jet bomber. Elton’s most noteworthy contribution to aviation was his involvement in the development of the nose-to-tail method of air refueling, which is still used by the United States Air Force and the Kansas Air National Guard.