Wiley Post

Wiley Post

Wiley Post was an American aviator and pioneer in high-altitude flight and long-distance navigation whose record-setting solo and crewed flights in the 1930s advanced long-range aviation, aeronautical instrumentation, and pressure-suit technology. He became a public figure through association with aircraft manufacturers, newspapers, and air mail services, establishing methods and equipment that influenced Howard Hughes, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Glenn Curtiss, and others in the interwar aviation community. Post's work intersected with major aviation companies and institutions such as Lockheed Corporation, Getz firms, and the National Aeronautic Association while contributing to nascent high-altitude physiology research and navigational practice.

Early life and education

Post was born near Grand Saline, Texas, in Van Zandt County and left formal schooling early, like many contemporaries such as Howard Hughes and Charles Lindbergh, pursuing hands-on mechanical and aviation apprenticeships. He worked in the oil fields of Oklahoma, in the Spindletop era environment influenced by figures like H. L. Hunt and companies such as Gulf Oil, gaining mechanical skills applicable to aircraft maintenance used later with carriers like Western Air Express. During World War I-era mobilization and the postwar boom that produced barnstormers similar to Art Smith and Alois Wolfmüller, Post learned flying informally, associating with regional air shows and air mail operations tied to employers and service networks across Texas and Oklahoma. He developed a reputation for mechanical ingenuity linked to contemporaries in enterprises like Ryan Airlines and Curtiss Aeroplane operations.

Aviation career

Post entered professional aviation through roles in barnstorming, air mail, and exhibition flying, operating types such as the Curtiss JN-4 and later the Lockheed Vega, the latter produced by Lockheed Corporation and used by figures including Amelia Earhart and Wiley Post's contemporaries. He flew for operations connected with American Airlines predecessors and engaged with the National Air Races, where aviators like Roscoe Turner and Jimmy Doolittle competed. Post became known for modifying aircraft with advanced radios and navigation equipment supplied by firms like RCA and Bendix Aviation, collaborating with instrument makers such as Kollsman to improve precision altimetry and attitude indicators. His practical work paralleled developments at research centers including the NACA and manufacturers like Douglas Aircraft Company and Boeing, influencing airline and military test pilots involved in transcontinental and polar planning.

Around-the-world flights

Post gained international fame with two around-the-world flights in 1931 and 1933 in a highly modified Lockheed Vega named "Winnie Mae", associated with sponsors and backers similar to W. Averell Harriman-era patrons and metropolitan newspapers like the New York Times. His 1931 flight included stops in Bermuda, the Azores, and European airfields tied to operators such as Imperial Airways and Air France, drawing comparisons with the earlier circumnavigation by Douglas Corrigan and contemporaneous feats by Charles Kingsford Smith. The 1933 solo circumnavigation set a speed record acknowledged by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and praised by public figures including President Franklin D. Roosevelt and aviation promoters from the National Aeronautic Association. Post's routing required coordination with colonial and national authorities across Canada, Soviet Union, Japan, and China, and used meteorological and radio-navigation practices developed in cooperation with institutions like the U.S. Weather Bureau.

Contributions to aviation and technology

Post pioneered practical pressure-suit development for high-altitude work, collaborating with tailors and engineers and drawing upon research from NACA laboratories, contributing to physiological knowledge later used by aviators and astronauts associated with institutions such as NASA and U.S. Army Air Corps. He tested turbocharged engines from vendors like Pratt & Whitney and Wright Aeronautical, advancing supercharging and turbo-supercharging techniques employed by makers including Rolls-Royce and General Electric in later warplane designs. Post improved radio direction-finding and dead-reckoning methods popularized by navigation firms such as Bendix Corporation and pioneered practical use of radio beacons and gyroscopic instruments by integrating components from RCA, Collins Radio Company, and Kollsman into his aircraft. His pressure suit and helmet experiments informed emergency breathing and life-support concepts that would later influence high-altitude flight testing led by organizations like the U.S. Air Force and research units connected to John J. Montgomery-style pioneers.

Later life and death

In the mid-1930s Post continued record attempts and exploratory flights in Alaska and the Arctic, collaborating with oil industry figures and exploration sponsors similar to those involved with Pan American Airways polar surveys and northern development projects. On August 15, 1935, during a survey flight near Point Barrow, Alaska, Post and oil executive Will Rogers died in the crash of a hybrid aircraft while en route to promote aviation and resource development—an accident that drew national mourning from leaders including President Franklin D. Roosevelt and figures in the Hollywood and aviation communities such as Darrell Royal-era publicists. The crash prompted inquiries by agencies including the Civil Aeronautics Authority and led to renewed emphasis on navigation, maintenance, and safety procedures adopted by airlines and military services including United Airlines and the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Category:American aviators Category:Recipients of aviation awards