Wiley Post
Encyclopedia
Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator, 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 suit
s. His Lockheed Vega
aircraft
, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum
's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
from 2003 to 2011. It will be featured in the new "Time and Navigation" gallery at the National Air and Space Museum in early 2013. On August 15, 1935, Post and American
humorist Will Rogers
were killed when Post's aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow
, in Alaska
.
(Van Zandt County), to farmer parents William Francis and Mae Quinlan Post, 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. On October 1, 1926, an oil field accident cost him his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first aircraft. 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 aircraft of the early 1930s. The oilman nicknamed it, the 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 fuselage was inscribed, "Los Angeles to Chicago 9 hrs. 8 min. 2 sec. August 27, 1930." Adam Charles Williams finished second with a time of 9 hrs. 9 min. 4 sec.
was not held by a fixed-wing aircraft, but by the Graf Zeppelin
, piloted by Hugo Eckener
in 1929 with a time of 21 days. On June 23, 1931, Post and his navigator, Harold Gatty
, left Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York in the Winnie Mae with a flight plan that would take them around the world, stopping at Harbour Grace
, Flintshire
, Hanover
twice, Berlin, Moscow, Novosibirsk
, Irkutsk
, Blagoveshchensk
, Khabarovsk
, Nome
where his airscrew had to be repaired, Fairbanks
where the airscrew was replaced, Edmonton
, and Cleveland
before returning to Roosevelt Field. They arrived back on July 1, after traveling 15474 miles in the record time of 8 days and 15 hours and 51 minutes. The reception they received rivaled Charles Lindbergh
's everywhere they went. They had lunch at the White House
on July 6, rode in a ticker-tape parade
the next day in New York City
, and were honored at a banquet given by the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America at the Hotel Astor. After the flight, Post acquired the Winnie Mae from F.C. Hall, and he and Gatty published an account of their journey titled, Around the World in Eight Days, with an introduction by Will Rogers.
device and a radio direction finder
that were in their final stages of development by the Sperry Gyroscope Company
and the United States Army
. In 1933, he repeated his flight around the world, this time using the auto-pilot and compass in place of his navigator and becoming the first to accomplish the feat alone. He departed from Floyd Bennett Field
and continued on to Berlin where repairs were attempted to his autopilot, stopped at Königsberg
to replace some forgotten maps, Moscow
for more repairs to his autopilot, Novosibirsk
, Irkutsk
for final repairs to the autopilot, Rukhlovo
, Khabarovsk
, Flat
where his airscrew
had to be replaced, Fairbanks
, Edmonton
, and back to Floyd Bennett Field. Fifty thousand people greeted him on his return on July 22 after 7 days, 19 hours - 21 hours less than his previous record, and he was given a second ticker-tape parade in New York.
, Post began exploring the limits of high-altitude long-distance flight. The Winnie Mae's cabin could not be pressurized, so he worked with Russell S. Colley of the B.F. Goodrich Company to develop what became the world's first practical pressure suit
. Three pressure suits were fabricated for Wiley Post; only the final version proved successful. The first suit ruptured during a pressure test. The redesigned second suit used the same helmet as the first but when tested was too tight and they were unable to remove it from Post, so they had to cut him out thus destroying the suit. The third suit was redesigned from the previous two.
The body of the suit had three layers: long underwear, an inner black rubber air pressure bladder, and an outer layer made of rubberized parachute fabric. The outer layer was glued to a frame with arm and leg joints that allowed him to operate the flight controls and to walk to and from the aircraft. Attached to the frame were pigskin gloves, rubber boots, and an aluminum-and-plastic diver's helmet. The helmet had a removable faceplate that could be sealed at a height of 17,000 ft, and could accommodate earphones and a throat microphone
. The helmet was cylinder-shaped with a circular window. In the first flight using the suit on September 5, 1934, Post reached an altitude of 40,000 ft above Chicago. Eventually flying as high as 50,000 ft, Post discovered the jet stream
and made the first major practical advances in pressurized flight. As of 2011 the suit is currently being restored.
s sponsored by Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc
on all four flights. When Post was killed on August 15, 1935, thus ending the possibility of any more attempts to complete the AM-2 stratosphere flight, the covers were finally cancelled in Los Angeles on August 20, 1935, and forwarded to their addressees.
to Russia
. Short on cash, he built a hybrid using parts salvaged from two different aircraft: the fuselage of an airworthy Lockheed Orion and the wings of a wrecked experimental Lockheed Explorer. The Explorer wing was six feet longer in span than the Orion's original wing, an advantage which extended the range of the hybrid aircraft. As the Explorer wing did not have retractable landing gear, it also lent itself to the fitting of floats
for landing in the lakes of Alaska
and Siberia
. Lockheed flatly refused to make the modifications Post requested on the grounds that the two designs were incompatible and potentially a dangerous mix, leaving him no alternative but to make the changes himself.
Post's friend Will Rogers
visited him often at the airport in Burbank, California
while Pacific Airmotive Ltd. was modifying the aircraft, and asked Post to fly him through Alaska in search of new material for his newspaper column. When the floats Post had ordered did not arrive at Seattle in time, he used a set that was designed for a larger type, making the already nose-heavy hybrid aircraft still more nose-heavy. However, according to the research of Bryan Sterling
, the floats were the correct type for the aircraft.
After making a test flight in July, Post and Rogers left Seattle
in early August and made several stops in Alaska. While Post piloted the aircraft, Rogers wrote his columns on his typewriter. Before they left Fairbanks they signed and mailed a yacht club burgee
belonging to South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club. The signed Burgee is on display at South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California. On August 15, they left Fairbanks
, Alaska for Point Barrow
. They were a few miles from Point Barrow when they became uncertain of their position in bad weather and landed in a lagoon to ask directions. On takeoff, the engine failed at low altitude, and the aircraft, uncontrollably nose-heavy at low speed, plunged into the lagoon, shearing off the right wing and ended inverted in the shallow water of the lagoon. Both men died instantly.
acquired the Winnie Mae from Post's widow for $25,000. The United States Congress authorized the purchase on August 24, 1935, just nine days after Post's death in Alaska. Two monuments at the crash site
commemorate the death of the two men and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. The nearby Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport located in Barrow, Alaska
bears his name.
Wiley Post Airport
, a large FAA designated reliever airport in Oklahoma City is named after Post. The major commercial airport is named after Will Rogers
, so that both victims of the crash are honored by airports in Oklahoma City
. The Will Rogers - Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base
is a seaplane
base located on Lake Washington
, at the north end of the Renton Municipal Airport
in Renton, Washington
.
Wiley Post received the Distinguished Flying Cross (1932), the Gold Medal of Belgium (1934), and the International Harmon Trophy
(1934). He was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
in 1969. In 1979, the United States Postal Service
honored him with two airmail
stamps
.
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suit
Pressure suit
A pressure suit is a protective suit worn by high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where the air pressure is too low for an unprotected person to survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positive pressure. Such suits may be either full-pressure or partial-pressure...
s. His Lockheed Vega
Lockheed Vega
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Allen, Richard Sanders. Revolution in the Sky: Those Fabulous Lockheeds, The Pilots Who Flew Them. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1964....
aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...
's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum 's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States....
from 2003 to 2011. It will be featured in the new "Time and Navigation" gallery at the National Air and Space Museum in early 2013. On August 15, 1935, Post and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
humorist Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
were killed when Post's aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow
Point Barrow
Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at...
, in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
Early flying career
Post was born in Grand Saline, TexasGrand Saline, Texas
Grand Saline is a city in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States, located in East Texas. The population is 3,262. Grand Saline is the third largest city in Van Zandt County and is a part of the Greater Tyler/Longview area...
(Van Zandt County), to farmer parents William Francis and Mae Quinlan Post, 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
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight...
circuit. On October 1, 1926, an oil field accident cost him his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first aircraft. 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 aircraft of the early 1930s. The oilman nicknamed it, the Winnie Mae, after his daughter, and Post achieved his first national prominence in it by winning the National Air Race Derby, from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The fuselage was inscribed, "Los Angeles to Chicago 9 hrs. 8 min. 2 sec. August 27, 1930." Adam Charles Williams finished second with a time of 9 hrs. 9 min. 4 sec.
With Harold Gatty
Like many pilots at the time, Post disliked the fact that the speed record for flying around the worldCircumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
was not held by a fixed-wing aircraft, but by the Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
, piloted by Hugo Eckener
Hugo Eckener
Dr. Hugo Eckener was the manager of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin during the inter-war years, and was commander of the famous Graf Zeppelin for most of its record-setting flights, including the first airship flight around the world, making him the most successful airship commander in history...
in 1929 with a time of 21 days. On June 23, 1931, Post and his navigator, Harold Gatty
Harold Gatty
Harold Charles Gatty was an Australian navigator, inventor, and aviation pioneer...
, left Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York in the Winnie Mae with a flight plan that would take them around the world, stopping at Harbour Grace
Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador
Harbour Grace is a town in Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. With roots dating back to the sixteenth century, it is one of the oldest towns in North America. It is located about 45 km northwest of the provincial capital, St. John's...
, Flintshire
RAF Sealand
RAF Sealand was a former Royal Air Force station in Flintshire, north Wales and operated between 1916 and 2006.Under defence cuts announced in 2004 RAF Sealand was completely closed in April 2006. All remaining RAF units were moved to RAF Leeming...
, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
twice, Berlin, Moscow, Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
, Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
, Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. Population: -Early history of the region:The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers...
, Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
, Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
where his airscrew had to be repaired, Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
where the airscrew was replaced, Edmonton
Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport
Edmonton City Centre Airport, , is located within the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is bordered by Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway to the south, 121 Street to the west, and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology to the east. It encompasses approximately of land just north...
, and Cleveland
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is a public airport located nine miles southwest of the central business district of Cleveland, a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The airport lies just within the city limits of Cleveland...
before returning to Roosevelt Field. They arrived back on July 1, after traveling 15474 miles in the record time of 8 days and 15 hours and 51 minutes. The reception they received rivaled Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
's everywhere they went. They had lunch at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
on July 6, rode in a ticker-tape parade
Ticker-tape parade
A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in a built-up urban setting, allowing large amounts of shredded paper to be thrown from nearby office buildings onto the parade route, creating a celebratory effect by the snowstorm-like flurry...
the next day in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and were honored at a banquet given by the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America at the Hotel Astor. After the flight, Post acquired the Winnie Mae from F.C. Hall, and he and Gatty published an account of their journey titled, Around the World in Eight Days, with an introduction by Will Rogers.
First solo pilot
After the record-setting flight, Post wanted to open his own aeronautical school, but could not raise enough financial support because of doubts many had about his rural background and limited formal education. Motivated by his detractors, Post decided to attempt a solo flight around the world and to break his previous speed record. Over the next year, Post improved his aircraft by installing an autopilotAutopilot
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
device and a radio direction finder
Radio direction finder
A radio direction finder is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. Due to low frequency propagation characteristic to travel very long distances and "over the horizon", it makes a particularly good navigation system for ships, small boats, and aircraft that might be some distance...
that were in their final stages of development by the Sperry Gyroscope Company
Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century...
and the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. In 1933, he repeated his flight around the world, this time using the auto-pilot and compass in place of his navigator and becoming the first to accomplish the feat alone. He departed from Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field is New York City's first municipal airport. While no longer used as an operational commercial, military or general aviation airfield, the New York Police Department still flies its helicopters from its heliport base there...
and continued on to Berlin where repairs were attempted to his autopilot, stopped at Königsberg
Kaliningrad Devau Airport
Kaliningrad Devau Airport is located 5 km northeast of Kaliningrad. Today it is a small general aviation airfield and is also used for sports aviation. There are Antonov An-2 aircraft parked on the site....
to replace some forgotten maps, Moscow
Khodynka Airport
Khodynka Aerodrome was an airport in Moscow, Russia located northwest of the centre of the city. It was the only airport in the city until the opening of Vnukovo in 1941. It is no longer active and today the whole site has been redeveloped for other uses...
for more repairs to his autopilot, Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
, Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
for final repairs to the autopilot, Rukhlovo
Skovorodino
Skovorodino is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia. Population: 10,100 ; 10,566 ; 13,824 .-Geography:The town is located in the upper stream of the Bolshoy Never River some 669 km northwest of Blagoveshchensk...
, Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
, Flat
Flat, Alaska
Flat is a census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the CDP was 0.- History :...
where his airscrew
Propeller (aircraft)
Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...
had to be replaced, Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
, Edmonton
Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport
Edmonton City Centre Airport, , is located within the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is bordered by Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway to the south, 121 Street to the west, and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology to the east. It encompasses approximately of land just north...
, and back to Floyd Bennett Field. Fifty thousand people greeted him on his return on July 22 after 7 days, 19 hours - 21 hours less than his previous record, and he was given a second ticker-tape parade in New York.
Pressure suit
In 1934, with financial support from Frank Phillips of the Phillips Petroleum CompanyConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
, Post began exploring the limits of high-altitude long-distance flight. The Winnie Mae's cabin could not be pressurized, so he worked with Russell S. Colley of the B.F. Goodrich Company to develop what became the world's first practical pressure suit
Pressure suit
A pressure suit is a protective suit worn by high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where the air pressure is too low for an unprotected person to survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positive pressure. Such suits may be either full-pressure or partial-pressure...
. Three pressure suits were fabricated for Wiley Post; only the final version proved successful. The first suit ruptured during a pressure test. The redesigned second suit used the same helmet as the first but when tested was too tight and they were unable to remove it from Post, so they had to cut him out thus destroying the suit. The third suit was redesigned from the previous two.
The body of the suit had three layers: long underwear, an inner black rubber air pressure bladder, and an outer layer made of rubberized parachute fabric. The outer layer was glued to a frame with arm and leg joints that allowed him to operate the flight controls and to walk to and from the aircraft. Attached to the frame were pigskin gloves, rubber boots, and an aluminum-and-plastic diver's helmet. The helmet had a removable faceplate that could be sealed at a height of 17,000 ft, and could accommodate earphones and a throat microphone
Throat microphone
A throat microphone, also laryngophone, is a type of contact microphone that absorbs vibrations directly from the wearer's throat by way of single or dual sensors, often called "transducer," worn against the neck. The throat microphone's design has several advantages...
. The helmet was cylinder-shaped with a circular window. In the first flight using the suit on September 5, 1934, Post reached an altitude of 40,000 ft above Chicago. Eventually flying as high as 50,000 ft, Post discovered the jet stream
Jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on Earth are westerly winds...
and made the first major practical advances in pressurized flight. As of 2011 the suit is currently being restored.
Attempted high altitude non-stop transcontinental flights
Between February 22 and June 15, 1935, Post made four unsuccessful attempts to complete the first high altitude non-stop flight from Los Angeles to New York, all of which failed for various mechanical reasons. The first attempt on February 22 ended just 57.5 miles East of Los Angeles at Muroc, CA. This was followed by attempts on March 15 (Cleveland, Ohio; 2,035 miles), April 14 (Lafayette, Indiana; 1,760 miles), and June 15 (Wichita, KS; 1,188 miles). As the attempts were also meant to be the "First Air Mail Stratosphere Flight" over U.S. Air Mail Route #2 (AM-2) from Los Angeles to New York, Post also carried a quantity of cacheted coverCover (philately)
In philately, the term cover pertains to the outside of an envelope or package with an address, typically with postage stamps that have been cancelled and is a term generally used among stamp and postal history collectors. The term does not include the contents of the letter or package, although...
s sponsored by Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
on all four flights. When Post was killed on August 15, 1935, thus ending the possibility of any more attempts to complete the AM-2 stratosphere flight, the covers were finally cancelled in Los Angeles on August 20, 1935, and forwarded to their addressees.
Final flight and death
In 1935 Post became interested in surveying a mail-and-passenger air route from the West Coast of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Short on cash, he built a hybrid using parts salvaged from two different aircraft: the fuselage of an airworthy Lockheed Orion and the wings of a wrecked experimental Lockheed Explorer. The Explorer wing was six feet longer in span than the Orion's original wing, an advantage which extended the range of the hybrid aircraft. As the Explorer wing did not have retractable landing gear, it also lent itself to the fitting of floats
Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
for landing in the lakes of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Lockheed flatly refused to make the modifications Post requested on the grounds that the two designs were incompatible and potentially a dangerous mix, leaving him no alternative but to make the changes himself.
Post's friend Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
visited him often at the airport in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
while Pacific Airmotive Ltd. was modifying the aircraft, and asked Post to fly him through Alaska in search of new material for his newspaper column. When the floats Post had ordered did not arrive at Seattle in time, he used a set that was designed for a larger type, making the already nose-heavy hybrid aircraft still more nose-heavy. However, according to the research of Bryan Sterling
Bryan Sterling
Bryan Sterling was an authority on the life and work of American political commentator, humorist, and entertainer Will Rogers...
, the floats were the correct type for the aircraft.
After making a test flight in July, Post and Rogers left Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
in early August and made several stops in Alaska. While Post piloted the aircraft, Rogers wrote his columns on his typewriter. Before they left Fairbanks they signed and mailed a yacht club burgee
Burgee
A burgee is a distinguishing flag, regardless of its shape, of a recreational boating organization.-Etiquette:Yacht clubs and their members may fly their club's burgee while underway and at anchor, day or night, but not while racing. Sailing vessels may fly the burgee from the main masthead or from...
belonging to South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club. The signed Burgee is on display at South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California. On August 15, they left Fairbanks
Fairbanks
Fairbanks may refer to:Places in the United States*Fairbanks, Alaska, city*Fairbanks, California, unincorporated community in El Dorado County*Fairbanks, Mendocino County, California, former settlement*Fairbanks, Indiana, unincorporated community...
, Alaska for Point Barrow
Point Barrow
Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at...
. They were a few miles from Point Barrow when they became uncertain of their position in bad weather and landed in a lagoon to ask directions. On takeoff, the engine failed at low altitude, and the aircraft, uncontrollably nose-heavy at low speed, plunged into the lagoon, shearing off the right wing and ended inverted in the shallow water of the lagoon. Both men died instantly.
Honors and tributes
In 1936, the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
acquired the Winnie Mae from Post's widow for $25,000. The United States Congress authorized the purchase on August 24, 1935, just nine days after Post's death in Alaska. Two monuments at the crash site
Rogers-Post Site
The Rogers-Post Site, located on the North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska, is the location of a plane crash that killed humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post on 15 August 1935 during an aerial tour of Alaska. It is about 13 miles southwest of Barrow, on the north side of Walakpa Bay near...
commemorate the death of the two men and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. The nearby Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport located in Barrow, Alaska
Barrow, Alaska
Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the...
bears his name.
Wiley Post Airport
Wiley Post Airport
Wiley Post Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located seven nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Oklahoma City, in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States....
, a large FAA designated reliever airport in Oklahoma City is named after Post. The major commercial airport is named after Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
, so that both victims of the crash are honored by airports in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
. The Will Rogers - Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base
Will Rogers - Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base
The Will Rogers - Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base , is a seaplane base located on Lake Washington, inside the perimeter fence of the northwest corner of the Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Washington.- External links :...
is a seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
base located on Lake Washington
Lake Washington
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...
, at the north end of the Renton Municipal Airport
Renton Municipal Airport
Renton Municipal Airport is located in Renton, Washington, USA. It has a single paved runway, 16/34, which is roughly 5,400' long...
in Renton, Washington
Renton, Washington
Renton is an Eastside edge city in King County, Washington, United States. Situated 11 miles southeast of Seattle, Washington, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington. Founded in the 1860s, Renton became a supply town for the Newcastle coal fields...
.
Wiley Post received the Distinguished Flying Cross (1932), the Gold Medal of Belgium (1934), and the International Harmon Trophy
Harmon Trophy
The Harmon Trophy is a set of three international trophies, to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix , and aeronaut...
(1934). He was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
National Aviation Hall of Fame
The American National Aviation Hall of Fame is located at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, east Dayton, Ohio...
in 1969. In 1979, the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
honored him with two airmail
Airmail
Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
stamps
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
.
External links
- "Wiley Post seeks New Record" Popular Mechanics, October 1934 pp.492-494
- Renton Municipal Airport - Will Rogers-Wiley Post Seaplane Base.
- C95 Wiley Post Stamp
- C96 Wiley Post Stamp
