Trailblazer Wiley Post
by Laurie Lips

JANUARY 2001

When feats of aviation "firsts" and aviators of old are mentioned, the names you'll most likely hear first are Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Even though Wiley Post was the first man to fly solo around the earth, and his heroic adventures earned him ticker-tape parades, a White House reception, keys to various cities, and stage and movie offers, his name is hardly ever mentioned.

Post was an ardent trailblazer, but his name is usually associated with the fact that he was the pilot of the plane in which he and his famous passenger, Will Rogers-the internationally renowned humorist and philosopher-were killed in an accident in Barrow, Alaska in 1935.

Wiley Hardeman Post was born on November 22, 1898 near Grand Saline, Texas, about 65 miles east of Dallas. He was the fourth of seven children born to William and Mae Quinlan Post, who were strict missionary Baptists.

The Posts were farmers by trade, who moved several times during Wiley's boyhood. They finally sank permanent roots near the little town of Maysville, in Gavin County, Oklahoma.

Farming didn't really interest Post, who even as a small boy, dreamed of being an aviator.

Mae Post once recalled that her freckle-faced youngster had an "inordinate desire to tinker with things." He read adventure stories voraciously and loved mechanical toys and projects, especially whittling model airplanes. This same youngster, however, had little interest in school, and stopped attending at the age of 11.

When he was 14, he saw his first real airplane, a Curtiss Pusher, up close at the county fair at Lawton, Oklahoma. Art Smith, one of the early barnstormers, was the pilot. Post decided there and then that he was going to be a pilot.

When Post was 17, he left home and enrolled at the Sweeney Auto and Aviation School in Kansas City, Mo. At school, his declaration that he would one day fly around the world caused his classmates to ridicule him.

Post's first job away from home was as a grader, building the U. S. Army airfield at Fort Sill, Okla.

He joined the Army hoping to become a pilot, but was still in training to be a radio operator when the war ended.

In 1919, after the war, Post, who was determined never to return to the farm and farm work, began work as a "roughneck" in oil fields near Walters, Okla., where wood derricks and rotary drilling equipment were just coming into use. Post worked 12-hour days "rassling iron" and "firing pots." At this time, a barnstormer gave him his first airplane ride.

Little is known of Post's life during the next couple of years. What is known is that Wiley Post, No. 3009, was convicted in the District Court of Grady County, Okla., on April 28, 1921, for the crime of "robbery and brandishing a gun." He was sentenced to 10 years in the state reformatory in Granite, Okla.

Post didn't easily adapt to life in the penitentiary, and sank into a deep state of depression. Drs. George Waters and T.J. Nunnery saw the inmate's mental deterioration and recommended that he be paroled after 13 months. His case was diagnosed as "a melancholic state, which could not be improved by change of duty or good treatment." On June 5, 1922, Oklahoma Gov. Robertson signed his parole. The stringent terms and conditions of his parole were: "That the said Wiley Post shall abstain from the use or handling of intoxicating liquor in any form; that the said Wiley Post shall not gamble or in any way conduct a game of chance, not carry firearms in violation of the statutes of this State; that he shall industriously follow some useful occupation, avoid all evil associations, improper places of amusement, all pool and billiard halls, and obey the laws and in all respects conduct himself as an upright citizen."

Post lived by the terms of his parole, and years later, received a pardon from the governor. After his release, he went back to roughneck work, and spent the money he earned on flying lessons.

One day he spotted a poster advertising Burrell Tibbs and his "Texas Topnotch Fliers," a flying circus, which was to appear in Wewoka, Okla. He also learned that Peter Lewis, the group's regular parachute jumper, had been injured. Post offered to jump in his place. He had never done it before, but he strutted out onto the wing at an altitude of 2,000 feet, put on the parachute, which was attached to the right-wing strut, and jumped. He later stated it was "one of the biggest thrills of his life."

After that, he signed on with several circus flyers, some who taught him to fly. Post learned to act out and thwart the spectator's hope of his untimely death. His desire to thrill the crowd sometimes made him reckless. He was paid an average of $25 per jump and made some 100 parachute jumps.

Post's first solo flight was in 1926 in a "Canuck," a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, built in Canada.

On October 1, 1926, Post returned to his work in the oil fields. On his first day back in the fields, a tiny steel chip from a spike struck by a co-worker's sledgehammer flew in his left eye and lodged there. His eye became badly infected. As the infection grew steadily worse, doctors decided that it would have to be removed. This would have been a crushing blow to anyone, let alone an aviator, but through sheer determination, Post used the weeks of recovery to train his remaining eye on vision and depth perception, and practiced measuring distances and accuracy so that he could accomplish his goals.

The Oklahoma State Industrial Court awarded a workman's compensation check to Post for $1,698.25 ($18.00 per week for 94 weeks) as a lump sum payment for his injury.

Post's unfortunate accident would be his means to realize his dream. In 1927, he took some of the money and bought a Jenny. The aircraft, which had an OX-5 engine, had been in a slight accident, and the owners couldn't afford the needed repairs. Post handed over $250 for the plane, and spent $300 more to have it rebuilt. He then barnstormed his way across Oklahoma and north Texas.

While in Sweetwater, Texas, the 28-year-old Post met and fell in love with 17-year-old Mae Laine. The two later eloped. They were married, after a forced landing in Oklahoma, by a parson.

The couple barnstormed in Oklahoma and Texas for the next two years, during which time Post got his first pilot's certificate (air transport license # 3259), with a waiver for his blind eye.

When Post later crashed his plane, the repairs were more than the newlyweds could afford. They sold the plane, and Post sought employment as a barnstormer and a flight instructor.

When F.C. Hall, a dealer in oil field leases in Chickasha, Okla., realized that having a plane was crucial in conducting his business-speed often meant the difference between closing a deal and losing one-he hired Post to pilot his company's Travel Air biplane. Not only did Post (who earned $200 a week) become his personal pilot, he also served as his chauffeur and became Hall's hunting companion.

Post had a natural feel for flying; he often flew without looking at a compass or a map. One of his students once said that Post didn't just fly an airplane-he put it on.

In 1928, Hall sent Post to the Lockheed factory in Burbank, Calif., to trade in the open cockpit plane for Lockheed's newest and fastest aircraft-the new cabin Vega. A Pratt and Whitney Wasp engine powered the $20,240 plane, which had a cruising speed of 140 to 190 mph. Its sleek lines were the latest in aeronautic advancements. Hall named the airplane "Winnie Mae," after his daughter. He would consecutively own two other Lockheed Vegas; each would bear her name.

Post flew the plane for Hall until the stock market crashed in October 1929. Hall reluctantly laid off Post and sold the plane back to Lockheed.

Post's next job was as a test pilot for Lockheed.

In 1929, Post met Amelia Earhart, as she was about to enter the highly publicized Powder Puff Derby, a woman's air race that began at Clover Field in Santa Monica, Calif., and ended in Cleveland, Ohio.

Earhart had come to the Lockheed strip in Burbank for a thorough check of her plane before the race. After Post inspected the plane, he convinced Lockheed to replace Earhart's plane with a far superior demonstrator that they had on hand. (Earhart came in third in the race.)

On June 5, 1930, Hall contacted Post and told him that he had ordered a new plane (the second "Winnie Mae") and would need his services again. Post returned to work with the understanding that he could use the new 5B Vega (a 7-passenger airplane with a 420-hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine) in an upcoming non-stop national race from Los Angeles to Chicago.

There were five competitors in the race. Four of them-Roscoe Turner, Art Goebel, Lee Shoenhair, and Billy Brock-were well known. No one had heard of Wiley Post. Nine hours and nine minutes after take-off, Post walked into the Curtiss-Reynolds Airport and claimed his $7,500 prize.

Now he and Hall wanted to do something even more remarkable: they starting planning a flight around the world. Two other previous flights around the earth had already been done. The United States Army commissioned Douglas Aircraft to design and build five aircraft for an around the world flight attempt. These aircraft were named "The World Cruisers." Four of the five aircraft, each carrying two pilots, departed in April 1924, westbound from Seattle; 175 grueling days later two of the aircraft proudly touched down on U.S. soil. (This was the first and the last open-cockpit biplane circumnavigation.) In August of 1929, the famous German airship Graf Zeppelin took 21 days to float around the earth.

Post shot for a 10-day record of circumventing the world.

In January 1931, he flew the Winnie Mae to Lockheed to get special modifications made and to meet with Harold Gatty, an Australian navigator who had immigrated to the United States in 1927 and had established a navigation school in California. At that time, aircraft radios were still in their infancy and unusable by a lone pilot; weather information was usually unreliable, and maps were not always available or accurate.

Gatty's job was to chart the route, arrange for ground support along the way, and navigate. Post would attend to the preparation and pilot the aircraft. Hall was the project's financial backer. Gatty would get a guarantee of $5,000 plus 25 percent interest in any anticipated earnings of personal appearances, endorsements, advertisements, etc., if the trip was successful. After the repayment of Hall's outlay, most of the difference would go to Post. It was more than tempting in the deep years of the depression of 1931.

The Winnie Mae's overhaul included the removal of the electric starter, for weight considerations, and the installation of a special hatch with a folding windshield, which was attached to the top of the fuselage so that Gatty could make his navigational bearings. A sliding seat was added so that Post could keep the plane balanced as the fuel tanks were emptied. A system of communication between pilot and navigator, consisting of a simple tube, was installed. It worked great in the workshop, but once in flight, the roar of the engine drowned out their voices.

The two men and the Winnie Mae left California and arrived at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, on May 23, 1931.

Due to bad weather conditions, Post and Gatty didn't start out on their trip until June 23. Their flight took them to Newfoundland, England, Germany, and Russia, where they landed in mud and had to use horses to get their plane unstuck.

Maps provided by the Russian government proved useless. Several times Post had to pull up sharply when towering mountains, which weren't supposed to be there, suddenly appeared in the fog. At other times, mountains that were supposed to be there seemed to have grown taller since the maps were drawn up. (Two generations later the Russian government admitted that it had intentionally issued imprecise maps to mislead potential enemies.)

Post continued on to Alaska, Canada, and back to New York. All went well until the plane landed, belly up, on a muddy field at Solomon Beach, Alaska, bending the propeller. After hammering it back into shape, Post flew to Fairbanks where a new propeller was installed.

More trouble occurred at Edmonton where they were forced to take off from a street because the field was muddy. They returned to New York on July 1, 1931, having flown more than 15,000 miles in eight days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes.

Post and Gatty, instantly famous, were given a ticker tape parade in New York City. Mayor Jimmy Hall quipped that when the trip started the airplane was the "Winnie May"; during the flight it was the "Winnie Must," and at that moment, it was the "Winnie Did."

After that, Post made many public appearances. When columnist Will Rogers, another famous Oklahoman and one of Post's friends, announced that, sorry to say, Post and Gatty would not be visiting Roger's adopted hometown of Claremore, Okla., the town got to work. They built an airport in an unheard of five days, where they could welcome the visitors.

Later, whisperings of Gatty's great navigational skills during the trip overshadowed Post's flying skills. Post became depressed, discouraged, and bitter that he wasn't getting the continued recognition that he wanted.

Post, believing that circumventing the earth could be done faster, decided that he would go around the globe again, but this time, by himself.

The second flight around the world would need even more modifications. Funds were raised through companies that donated parts, services, and fuel. The Sperry Gyroscope Company donated the newly developed automatic pilot, which Post dubbed "Mechanical Mike." Additional fuel tanks were added and an Automatic Direction Finder was added to help pick up radio signals and keep the plane on course. The plane crashed during a test flight, and Braniff went to work to repair the Winnie Mae. A few more people chipped in to pay the repair bill so the trip could be put back on schedule.

This time there would be only five stops (Berlin, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Fairbanks, and Edmonton) on the same route as was flown before.

On July 15, 1933, Wiley took off for his second adventure of circling the earth. He flew 25 hours and 45 minutes and landed in Berlin. During the trip, the automatic pilot malfunctioned and language problems were difficult to overcome. Post ate very little, and had a hard time getting water to drink.

The Signal Corps' Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System stations in Nome transmitted signals to help Post. The ADF malfunctioned and Post could not find Fairbanks. He circled around Alaska air space lost for seven hours before landing in Flat, Alaska. The propeller was damaged and unrepairable. He was still ahead of his 1931 record by 31 hours; if he could find a new propeller and make other needed repairs, he wouldn't see his old record fade.

WAMCATS got on the radio and assistance poured in. Parts and temporary repairs were done and Post then flew wingtip to wingtip with another plane into Fairbanks. Post rested for eight hours as repairs were done (a tube was replaced in the ADF). He refueled in Edmonton and landed in New York on July 22, 1933; the flight took seven days, 18 hours, and 49 1/2 minutes. He had broken he and Gatty's time by 21 hours. Post once said that the hardest thing he had to learn to do was trust his instruments.

Post's financial rewards from the flight were meager; he did receive a new car from Buick and an endorsement deal with Camel cigarettes, even though he didn't smoke.

Though Post was a hero to millions around the world, many weren't fond of the flamboyant aviator. He had an explosive temper, a sharp tongue, and a surly disposition towards many that he didn't like. The press was not favorable toward him; he had frequent confrontations with newspapermen and officials. He was also the target of several acts of sabotage.

This all made it hard for Post to find funding for future projects.

The last two years of his life Post performed his most valuable service to aviation by moving manned flight into a new direction toward high altitude flights sponsored by Phillips Petroleum Company. With the aid of engineers from the B.F. Goodrich Company, he designed and built a pressure suit that would allow him to fly as high as 50,000 feet. The Winnie Mae underwent several innovations, including the use of a super-charger.

Although Post made several flights into the stratosphere and tried to break the cross-country speed record, he was plagued by mechanical failures. He discovered "jet streams," and his 1933 flight won him the coveted Harmon International Trophy, a feat shared with Lindbergh, Igor Sikorsky, and James Doolittle.

In February 1935, Will Rogers financed the purchase of a hybrid plane built from the parts of two aircraft that had been in wrecks; the fuselage was from a Lockheed Orion; the long wing from a Lockheed Explorer. Rogers called the plane Aurora Borealis, but others called it "Wiley's Orphan" or "Wiley's Bastard."

When the pontoons he had ordered did not arrive, Post had a set installed that were designed for a much larger plane. After several leisurely hunting and fishing stops in Alaska, Post and Rogers took off for Point Barrow. Becoming lost in bad weather, they landed in a lagoon a few miles from Point Barrow to ask directions. As they took off again, the engine quit, and the nose-heavy plane plunged to earth, killing both men instantly.

Post was honored posthumously with the Gold Medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale and Congress awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Two Okalahoma City airports were later named after Rogers and Post. Monuments are dedicated to both men at Point Barrow and in Oklahoma City. In recognition of his achievements, a 25-cent commemorative airmail stamp was issued in Post's honor in 1979.