Wiley Post

Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 ? August 15, 1935) gained international fame as the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His plywood airplane, the Winnie Mae, and his pressure suit are displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, USA. On August 15, 1935, Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post's plane crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow, in Alaska.

Early flying career

Post was born in Van Zandt County, Texas, but his family moved to Oklahoma when he was five. His aviation career began at age 26 as a parachutist for a flying circus, Burrell Tibbs and His Texas Topnotch Fliers, and he became well known on the barnstorming circuit. In 1926, an oil field accident cost him his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first airplane. Around this time, he met fellow Oklahoman Will Rogers when he flew Rogers to a rodeo, and the two eventually became close friends. Post was the personal pilot of wealthy Oklahoma oilmen Powell Briscoe and F.C. Hall in 1930 when Hall bought a high-wing, single-engine Lockheed Vega, one of the most famous record-breaking planes of the early 1930s. The oilman nicknamed the plane Winnie Mae, after his daughter, and Post achieved his first national prominence in it by winning the National Air Race Derby, from Los Angeles to Chicago. The plane's fuselage was inscribed, "Los Angeles to Chicago 9 hrs. 9 min. 4 sec. Aug. 27, 1930."

Related Topics:
Van Zandt County, Texas - Oklahoma - 1926 - 1930 - Lockheed Vega - Los Angeles - Chicago

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