| Wiley Hardeman Post |
| Wiley Post was born on a farm near Grand Saline, Texas in 1898. He died in an airplane take off crash with his dear friend Will Rogers, near Point Barrow Alaska, on August 15, 1935. In the short 36 years he lived, Post achieved more than many who lived to a ripe old age. His biography stands as an inspiration to the youth of the world. Post's exploits were varied. While a young man in the oil fields of Oklahoma he lost an eye in December 1925. Post took the compensation, about $1800, and bought his first airplane. On June 27, 1927 he eloped with his greatest love, Mae Laine, from Sweetwater Texas in his Curtiss Canuck. In 1928 Post became a personal pilot to F.C. Hall, an oilman from Chickasha Oklahoma and in Hall's airplane the "WINNIE MAE", he won the Derby of the National Air Races from Los Angeles to Chicago, in 1930. On June 23, 1931 he and Harold Gatty, a navigator from Australia, took off from Roosevlet Field, Brooklyn New York, and eight days, fifteen hours and fifty-one minutes later, touched down at Roosevelt Field having circled the globe. In July 1933 he equipped the WINNIE MAE with a "robot" pilot and flew around the globe in seven-days, eighteen-hours and forty-nine minutes. In 1934 he developed the "Man From Mars" high-altitude pressure suit, in which he made an unofficial flight to 50,000. The record was unofficial because the recording equipment failed. His high-altitude experiments were incidental to his real purpose of exploring the sub-stratosphere as a medium for high speed air travel. He predicted such aircraft as the supersonic transport and the possibility of space travel. Astronaut Gen. Thomas Stafford said, "I never once put on a space suit that I didn't think about Wiley." Wiley recognized the importance of biological rhythms to pilot proficiency and fatigue, and was one of the first to conduct top-secret human factors research for the US Army Air Corps, a fact which has just recently come to light. Wiley Post's work spans the years between the hit or miss techniques of the open cockpit era and the scientific approach of the aerospace era. |
Wiley Post At Roosevelt Field with a new Buick.
Most everywhere Wiley traveled a courtesy car
was provided for his convenience.
Most everywhere Wiley traveled a courtesy car
was provided for his convenience.
A very young Wiley Post: taken during the
time he was a parachute jumper for Burl
Tibbs' Texas Flying Circus. One of the few
photos of Wiley before he lost his left eye.
time he was a parachute jumper for Burl
Tibbs' Texas Flying Circus. One of the few
photos of Wiley before he lost his left eye.
While on a hunting trip to Alaska,
Wiley took this picture of his wife,
Mae. Photo courtesy of Mary Collins,
Mae's niece.
Wiley took this picture of his wife,
Mae. Photo courtesy of Mary Collins,
Mae's niece.
| "EIGHT DAYS EAST" "In my estimation, Wiley Post was one of the hardest working and least remembered of the early research pilots. The innovative things he did to further the cause of aviation are cogent today." Eight Days East was first published in Airline Pilot Magazine in. Article |
| Although Wiley Post was the first one-eyed pilot to fly the Atlantic, pilot Post was not the first to try. Before him went Francis Coli, lost in 1927 with Charles Nungesser; Walter G. Hinchliffe, was lost with the Hon. Elsie Mackay in 1928. Other famous uni-oculars of the time where: Golfer Tommy Armour, Reporter Floyd Gibbons, Gatecrasher "One-Eye" Connelly, Admiral Lord Nelson, William E. "Pussyfoot" Johnson, William "Big Bill" Heywood, and Harry "Fisticuffer" Greb. |
| Click on hangar for home page |
Wiley Post and Russell S. Colley, B.F. Goodrich engineer, testing the Post
designed high altitude pressure suite in 1934.
designed high altitude pressure suite in 1934.
| Chili for breakfast?...You Betcha! |
|
| According to Mary Collins, Mae & Wiley Post's niece, who spent the first four years of her life with Mae while her mother recovered from a serious illness, said that Wiley's favorite breakfast food was a steaming bowl of hot chili --what else did he like? Much has been written about Wiley's record setting flights and his human factors research, but precious little has been recorded about the person. What were those factors that brings his humanity into our everyday experience? What was his favorite color, his favorite movie, his favorite radio program? Regrettably no one is alive today who knew him on a personal adult level to answer those questions, but there are things we do know. Wiley didn't smoke, chew or drink, he was a jokester with a sharp since of humor who loved children. His favorite movies where comedies and he loved the jazz music of the day, especially Jack Teagarden of Oklahoma City. He was a brilliant and careful man with little formal education who taught himself engineering math so he could work as a test pilot for Lockheed. His accomplishments impressed the whole world, he impressed everyone except himself. |
In a staged photo op for a New York City newspaper,
Mae Post is shown at Wiley's side after his grueling
solo flight around the globe.
Mae Post is shown at Wiley's side after his grueling
solo flight around the globe.
| Distinguished Flying Cross Awarded to Wiley Post "[H]eroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight" Presented to Wiley Post and Harold Gatty by President Herbert Hoover, August 18, 1932. |
| "Your successful world girdling flight is a striking contribution to aeronautical progress. It is dramatic testimony to the efficiency and reliability of American aircraft. It demonstrates vividly how modern science is making neighbours of all the nations of the world. All America is proud of you in the hour of your extraordinary success. You have enhanced faith in the art of flying and the science of air navigation. I congratulate you most heartily on your achievement." - President Herbert Hoover at White House dinner July 6, 1931 |
| Like most people during the great depression of the early 1930's, Wiley had little money. Flying for F.C. Hall, as his personal pilot, test pilot work for Lockheed and a few air races had been his major sources of income. Then, just as now, celebrity product endorsements were a good way of supplementing ones income. Mothersill's Airsick Remedy was one of several brands to which he lent his good name. |
Mothersill's Pills |
| I used Mothersills on my record solo flight around the world, It's the ideal remedy for airsickness. Wiley Post |
Widowed at the young age of 26, the stark loneliness of life without
her husband is evident in the landscape and in the face of Mae Post.
The photograph was taken at the Wiley Post Will Rogers memorial at
Point Barrow, Alaska. Mae never remarried.
her husband is evident in the landscape and in the face of Mae Post.
The photograph was taken at the Wiley Post Will Rogers memorial at
Point Barrow, Alaska. Mae never remarried.
| A One Man Woman |
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| Other Uni-Ocular Pilots Attempted World Flight |
| Center right: Wiley Post, President Herbert Hoover and Harold Gatty |