Wiley Post

Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was an American aviator during the <a href="/facts/Aviation_between_the_World_Wars/DYlRsWqY">interwar period</a> and the first <a href="/facts/Aviator/SJaN1UAJ">pilot</a> to fly solo around the world. Known for his work in high-altitude flying, he helped develop one of the first <a href="/facts/Pressure_suit/a6mcTfNE">pressure suits</a> and discovered the <a href="/facts/Jet_stream/cVqkU0V3">jet stream</a>. On August 15, 1935, he and American humorist <a href="/facts/Will_Rogers/NCVY3l7T">Will Rogers</a> were killed when his aircraft <a href="/facts/Rogers-Post_Site/FQSAGSoe">crashed on takeoff</a> from a lagoon near <a href="/facts/Point_Barrow/ueomDtrl">Point Barrow</a> in the <a href="/facts/Territory_of_Alaska/Ifpa5t7W">Territory of Alaska</a>.
Post's <a href="/facts/Lockheed_Vega/ATMYeSVj">Lockheed Vega</a> aircraft, the <a href="/facts/Winnie_Mae/9pHk6IpE">Winnie Mae</a>, was on display at the <a href="/facts/National_Air_and_Space_Museum/CSDNqoSA">National Air and Space Museum</a>'s <a href="/facts/Steven_F._Udvar-Hazy_Center/SPGdDfmT">Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center</a> from 2003 to 2011. It is now featured in the "Time and Navigation" gallery on the second floor of the <a href="/facts/National_Air_and_Space_Museum/CSDNqoSA">National Air and Space Museum</a> in <a href="/facts/Washington,_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C.</a>.

Wiley Post open-in-new

Wiley Post