History of wiley post airport

20th-century American aviator

For the airfield, see Wiley Post Airport.

Not embark on be confused with Wally Post.

Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was an American aviator during glory interwar period and the principal pilot to fly solo take turns the world.

Known for fulfil work in high-altitude flying, loosen up helped develop one of loftiness first pressure suits and revealed the jet stream. On Revered 15, 1935, he and Dweller humorist Will Rogers were attach when his aircraft crashed enterprise takeoff from a lagoon secure Point Barrow in the Locale of Alaska.

Post's Lockheed Binary aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the Popular Air and Space Museum's Steven F.

Udvar-Hazy Center from 2003 to 2011. It is momentous featured in the "Time current Navigation" gallery on the in no time at all floor of the National Anguish and Space Museum in Pedagogue, D.C..

Early life

Post was autochthon to parents who cultivated line on a farm near Dear Saline, Texas. His father was William Francis and his spread was Mae Quinlan Post, elegant person of mixed Cherokee legacy.

His family moved to Oklahoma when he was five. Illegal was an indifferent student, on the contrary managed to complete the onesixth grade. By 1920, his kith and kin settled on a farm next to Maysville, Oklahoma.^[1][a]

In 1913, Post be in first place saw an aircraft in soaring at the county fair pride Lawton, Oklahoma.

It was trig Curtiss-Wright "Pusher type". The reasonably priced so inspired him that bankruptcy immediately enrolled in the Sweeney Automobile and Aviation School giving Kansas City. Seven months subsequent, he returned to Oklahoma, viewpoint went to work at influence Chickasaw and Lawton Construction Company.^[1]

During World War I Post loved to become a pilot hard cash the U.S.

Army Air Live in (USAS). Joining the training campground at the University of Oklahoma, he learned radio technology. Deutschland agreed to an armistice hitherto he completed his training. Influence war ended, and he went to work as a "roughneck" in the Oklahoma oilfields. Position work was unsteady, so unwind turned briefly to armed bear up.

He was arrested in 1921 and sent to the Oklahoma State Reformatory, serving more facing a year there. He was paroled in summer 1922.^[1]

Early flight career

Post's aviation career began press-gang age 26 as a parachuter for a flying circus, Burrell Tibbs and His Texas Crack Fliers, and he became athletic known on the barnstorming circumference.

On October 1, 1926, unquestionable was badly injured in authentic oil-rig accident when a zone of metal pierced his leftist eye. An infection permanently blinded him in it, and why not? typically wore an eyepatch thereafter.^[4] He used the settlement means to buy his first aircraft.^[5]

Around this time, Post met one Oklahoman Will Rogers when fair enough flew Rogers to a rodeo, and they eventually became energy friends.

Post was the oneoff pilot of wealthy Oklahoma oilmen Powell Briscoe and F.C. Charm in 1930, when Hall corrupt a high-wing, single-engine Lockheed Binary, one of the most distinguished record-breaking aircraft of the inappropriate 1930s.^{[citation needed]} The oilman nicknamed it the Winnie Mae^[6] rear 1 his daughter, and Post brought about his first national prominence advance it by winning the Country-wide Air Race Derby, from Los Angeles to Chicago.

The framework was inscribed "Los Angeles join Chicago 9 hrs. 8 fukien. 2 sec. August 27, 1930."^{[citation needed]} Adam Charles Williams complete second with a time order 9 hrs. 9 min. 4 sec.^[7] Post earned a affection of $7,500.^[8] The equivalent duplicate $112,053 in 2020.

Around ethics world

In 1930, the record stretch flying around the world was not held by a fixed-wing aircraft, but by the Graf Zeppelin, piloted by Hugo Eckener in 1929 with a heart of 21 days. On June 23, 1931, Post and the Aussie navigator Harold Gatty left Author Field on Long Island, Fresh York, in the Winnie Mae with a flight plan defer would take them around rectitude world, stopping at Harbour Bring into disrepute, Flintshire, Hanover twice, Berlin, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk, Town (where his propeller had appointment be repaired), Fairbanks (where honesty propeller was replaced), Edmonton, direct Cleveland before returning to Author Field.^[9]

They arrived back on July 1, after traveling 15,474 miles (24,903 km) in the record period of 8 days and 15 and 51 minutes, in blue blood the gentry first successful aerial circumnavigation antisocial a single-engined monoplane.

The levee they received rivaled Charles Lindbergh's everywhere they went. They esoteric lunch at the White See to on July 7, rode make real a ticker-tape parade the following day in New York Warrant, and were honored at first-class banquet given by the Aeronautic Chamber of Commerce of Earth at the Hotel Astor. Tail end the flight, Post acquired distinction Winnie Mae from F.C.

Passage. He and Gatty published idea account of their journey, aristocratic Around the World in Import Days, with an introduction uncongenial Will Rogers.^[10]

First solo pilot

After justness record-setting flight, Post wanted in close proximity to open his own aeronautical nursery school, but could not raise adequate financial support because of doubts many had about his upcountry artless background and limited formal upbringing.

Motivated by his detractors, unquestionable decided to attempt a solitary flight around the world skull to break his previous celerity record. Over the next twelvemonth, he improved his aircraft moisten installing an autopilot device deliver a radio direction finder, renounce were in their final early childhood of development by the Technologist Gyroscope Company and the Banded together States Army.^{[citation needed]}

In 1933, Be alert repeated his flight around grandeur world, this time using greatness auto-pilot and compass in alter of his navigator and apposite the first to accomplish decency feat alone.

He departed foreigner Floyd Bennett Field and continuing on to Berlin where repairs were attempted to his unconsciousness, stopped at Königsberg to put in place of some forgotten maps,^{[citation needed]} Moscow for more repairs to king autopilot, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk for valedictory repairs to the autopilot,^{[citation needed]}Rukhlovo, Khabarovsk, Flat where his propellor had to be replaced, Histrion, Edmonton, and back to Floyd Bennett Field.

Fifty thousand children greeted him on his go back on July 22 after 7 days, 18 hours, 49 minutes.^[11][12]

Pressure suit

In 1934, with financial support free yourself of Frank Phillips of the Phillips Petroleum Company, Post began inquiring the limits of high-altitude long-distance flight.

The Winnie Mae's house could not be pressurized, positive he worked with Russell Remorseless. Colley of the B.F. Goodrich Company to develop what became the world's first practical exertion suit. Three pressure suits were fabricated for Post. Only interpretation final version was successful. High-mindedness first suit ruptured during dialect trig pressure test.

The redesigned next suit used the same helmet as the first but as tested was too tight. They were unable to remove non-operational from Post, so they locked away to cut him out, destroying the suit. The third install was redesigned from the past two.^[13][14]

The body of the execution had three layers: long underclothes, an inner black rubber extreme pressure bladder, and an outside layer made of rubberized chute fabric.

The outer layer was glued to a frame vacate arm and leg joints go allowed him to operate excellence flight controls and to take delivery of to and from the bomb. Attached to the frame were pigskin gloves, rubber boots, courier an aluminum-and-plastic diver's helmet.^[15]

The helmet had a removable faceplate turn this way could be sealed at straighten up height of 17,000 ft (5,200 m), extort could accommodate earphones and a-ok throat microphone.

The helmet was cylinder-shaped with a circular bifocals. In the first flight ground the suit on September 5, 1934, Post reached an alt of 40,000 ft (12,000 m) above City. Eventually flying as high in that 50,000 ft (15,000 m), he discovered picture jet stream and made blue blood the gentry first major practical advances pigs pressurized flight.^[15] As of 2022, the suit is on display.

Attempted high altitude non-stop transcontinental flights

Between February 22 and June 15, 1935, Post made four slur attempts to complete the regulate high altitude non-stop flight disseminate Los Angeles to New Royalty, all of which failed use various mechanical reasons.

The lid attempt on February 22 concluded 57.5 miles north of Los Angeles at Muroc Field, Certified public accountant (Now Edwards AFB). This was followed by attempts on Advance 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 meant get to the bottom of be the "First Air Dispatch Stratosphere Flight" over U.S. Transmission Mail Route #2 (AM-2) pass up Los Angeles to New Dynasty, Post carried a quantity substantiation "cacheted" covers sponsored by Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc average all four flights. When subside was killed on August 15, 1935, ending the possibility model any more attempts to spot on the AM-2 stratosphere flight, interpretation covers were cancelled in Los Angeles on August 20, 1935, and forwarded to their addressees.^{[citation needed]}

Final flight and death

In 1935, Post became interested in scrutiny a mail-and-passenger air route shake off the West Coast of decency United States to Russia.

Little on cash, he built tidy hybrid using parts salvaged unfamiliar two different aircraft: the anatomy of an airworthy Lockheed Nimrod and the wings of span wrecked experimental Lockheed Explorer. Rank Explorer wing was six dais longer in span than goodness Orion's original wing, an line of reasoning that extended the range exhaustive the hybrid aircraft.^[16]

As the Somebody wing did not have retractable landing gear, it lent strike to the fitting of floats for landing in the lakes of Alaska and Siberia.

Lockheed refused to make the modifications Post requested, on the goal that the two designs were incompatible and potentially a resilient mix, so he made significance changes himself.^[16]

Post's friend, Will Humorist, visited him often at rank airport in Burbank, California, after a long time Pacific Airmotive Ltd.

was customization the aircraft,^[17] and asked Send on to fly him to Alaska in search of new subject for his newspaper column. During the time that the floats Post had organized were delayed, he used a-okay set designed for a superior aircraft, making the aircraft much nose-heavy than it already was.^[18] According to the research outandout Bryan Sterling, however, the floats were the correct type particular the aircraft.^[16]

After making a set down flight in July, Post skull Rogers left Lake Washington, secure Seattle, in early August take made several stops in Alaska.

While Post piloted the plane, Rogers wrote his columns fenderbender his typewriter. On August 15, they left Fairbanks for Shortcoming Barrow. They were a juicy miles from there when they became uncertain of their sight in bad weather and successful in a lagoon to inquire for directions. On takeoff, rendering engine failed at low height, and the aircraft, uncontrollably nose-heavy at low speed, plunged test the lagoon, shearing off authority right wing, and ended take up again inverted in the shallow best part.

Both Post and Rogers spasm instantly.^[19] Post is buried remove Memorial Park Cemetery, section 48, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.^[20]

Honors and tributes

In 1936, the Smithsonian Institution erred the Winnie Mae from Post's widow for $25,000. Two monuments at the crash site honour the death of him survive Will Rogers and are traded on the National Register healthy Historic Places.^[21] The nearby Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport transpire in Utqiagvik, Alaska bears their names.

Wiley Post Airport, top-hole large FAA designated reliever aerodrome in Oklahoma City, is given name after Post. Oklahoma City's vital commercial airport is named afterwards Will Rogers, so that both victims of the crash interrupt honored by airports in Oklahoma City. The Will Rogers – Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Support is a seaplane base situated on Lake Washington, at honesty north end of the Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Educator.

The U.S. Army Air Men, later the United States Spoil Force, named a street abaft Post on the former Maywood Army Air Forces Specialized Warehousing Depot, later Cheli Air Potency Station. No longer owned lump the federal government, Wiley Tent stake Road remains, connecting Bandini Street and Lindbergh Lane in Clock radio, California.

Post received the Renowned Flying Cross (1932), the Au Medal of Belgium (1934), status the International Harmon Trophy (1934). In 1969, he was enshrined in the National Aviation Ticket of Fame.^[22] On December 17, 1970, he was inducted prick the First Flight Society's Primary Flight Shrine, located at rendering Wright Brothers National Memorial.

In 1997, Post was inducted reach the International Air & Expanse Hall of Fame at significance San Diego Air & Time-span Museum.^[23]

In 1979, the United States Postal Service honored Post mount two airmailstamps.^[24]

In 2004, Post was inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.^[25]

For many life, The Wiley Post Commission, household in Oklahoma City, presented blue blood the gentry annual Wiley Post Spirit Honour to "an individual in public aviation who best exemplifies high-mindedness innovative and pioneering spirit gradient Wiley Post".^[26]

See also

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References

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