Remembering American Aviator Wiley Post

Aviator Wiley Post (glass eye and all). Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

In July 1933, American pilot Wiley Post attempted to do something no one before him had: to successfully circumnavigate the Earth flying solo.

Wiley Hardeman Post was born in Texas on November 22, 1898. While he was still quite small, his family moved to Oklahoma where they would settle on a farm. Post's education would only reach a sixth grade level, as his sights were set on interests other than school. When he was 15, he saw a plane fly at the county fair, and knew suddenly and exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Without losing a beat, he went to the Sweeney Automobile and Aviation School in Kansas City, Missouri.

When the United States became involved in World War I, Post decided to fly in the U.S. Army's newly formed Army Air Service. The war would end before Post finished his military training, and he briefly turned to other, more random jobs and even had a brief stint as a car thief. He was caught and arrested in 1921 and would serve just over a year in prison before his parole.

In 1924, Post landed a job as a parachutist with a flying circus, which started to garner him some fame. Two years later, though, he would lose an eye in an accident. In the late 1920s, Post bought his own plane and left the circus. It was around that time that he first met comedian and actor Will Rogers when Post flew Rogers to a rodeo. Fellow Okies, Post and Rogers were fast friends who would remain close for the rest of their lives.

In 1930, Post worked as a pilot for a pair of wealthy businessmen, Powell Briscoe and F.C. Hall, who had made their fortunes in oil. Hall purchased a plane known as the Lockheed Vega, naming it the Winnie Mae after his daughter. Post would fly Winnie Mae in the National Air Race Derby in August of that year, winning the race from Los Angeles to Chicago with a time of nine hours, eight minutes, and two seconds; he won by a minute and two seconds over the second place finisher.

In 1931, Post would fly Winnie Mae around the world with the help of his navigator, Harold Gatty. They traveled a total of 15,474 miles in just under nine days and became instant celebrities.

In the wake of his success, Post wanted to open a school of aviation, but some balked at his sixth grade education and simple background. In order to silence his critics, he determined to repeat his trip around the world, only this time flying solo. As he prepared for the adventure, he installed an autopilot feature in the Winnie Mae.

In July 1933, Post departed from the Floyd Bennett Field in New York. He flew to Berlin and made several stops in Russia to repair his autopilot device and eventually to replace his propeller. He would also make stops in Fairbanks, Alaska and Edmonton, Canada before landing back at Floyd Bennett Field. A crowd of 50,000 people was waiting for him, and he did indeed shatter his previous recordby twenty-one hours.

In 1935, Will Rogers, searching for new material to write about, asked Post to fly him to Alaska. In July and August of that year, they began their trip. On August 15, only a short distance from their destination in Point Barrow and impeded by poor weather conditions, they landed in on a lagoon to get their bearings. When they attempted to leave the lagoon, the engine failed in mid-takeoff and the plane crashed and flipped in the water, killing both men.