Biographical Sketches

WILEY HARDEMAN POST

Born: Nov 22, 1898    In: Cornith, TX
Died: August 15, 1935    In: Point Barrow, AK

Wiley Hardeman Post lost his left eye in an oil field accident in the 1926 and used an $1800 settlement to buy his first airplane. After a tour of barnstorming, he first achieved national prominence in 1930 when he won the National Air Race Derby from Los Angeles to Chicago and its $7,500 prize.

In 1931, Post and navigator Harold Gatty flew around the world in his Lockheed Vega 5 Winnie Mae (named after his backer’s daughter). The flight was not only a great technical achievement, but one which demanded extraordinary fortitude in the flight of 8d:15h:51m, which far surpassed the previous record of 21 days set in 1929 by the Graf Zeppelin.

In 1933 he duplicated his 1931 flight with a first successful solo around the world in Winnie Mae, which was upgraded with a Sperry automatic pilot, radio direction finder, and other then-new devices. The flight covered 15,596 miles in 7d:18h:49m and was perhaps the most remarkable display of flying endurance of the decade. During that period he also became noted for his experiments with Goodrich Co in high-altitude flight, in which he is generally credited with the discovery of the jet stream.

Post was considered one of the most colorful figures of early aviation. He set many records before being tragically killed near Point Barrow, Alaska, in 1935 in a crash which also took the life of his flying companion, humorist Will Rogers. His aerial achievements proved that shrinking the globe was as much a test of human endurance as a display of technological progress.

Enshrined in National Aviation Hall of Fame 1969.

REFERENCES:
Around the World in Eight Days; Wylie Post & Harold Gatty (? 1931)

Denotes an individual known to have soloed an aircraft prior to December 16, 1917, whether they were members of the "Early Birds of Aviation" Organization or not.