MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
BY GIACINTA BRADLEY KOONTZ
Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae. Drawing by aviation artist, Dan Witkoff.
THE AIR AND SPACE OF WILEY POST (1898-1935)
WILEY HARDEMAN POST [1898-1935] WAS BORN IN TEXAS, BUT GREW UP IN OKLAHOMA, WHICH BECAME HIS ADOPTED “HOME STATE.” UNINTERESTED IN HIS FAMILY’S FARM AND BORED WITH SCHOOL, POST ABANDONED BOTH. AT A TRADE SCHOOL HE ABSORBED ENGINEERING THEORY WHICH ENHANCED HIS NATURAL TALENT WITH MACHINES. IN 1913 HE SAW HIS FIRST AIRCRAFT AT A COUNTY FAIR. FROM THAT DAY FORWARD ALL OF POST’S GOALS INCLUDED FLYING.
THE GOAL-SETTER In their biography of Post, “Forgotten Eagle,” authors Brian and Frances Sterling offer a well-balanced profile of the aviator whose short and stocky frame contained an ego which enabled him to survive poor decisions, ignore regulations, and break laws when it suited his purpose. Because of, or in spite of these traits, he achieved what others did not. His rise to fame was not a linear, nor blemish-free ascent.
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At 23, Post attempted a robbery which landed him in prison although he was released after one year. On parole he sought work in the oil fields of Oklahoma. Yearning to be closer to aviation he quit to join an exhibition aviation team as a parachutist. At every opportunity he was in the air observing how to fly. Unable to save money toward his goal to buy an airplane, Post returned to work in the oil fields where an accident caused the loss of his left eye.
With the financial compensation for his injury, Post bought and repaired a JN-4 with which he offered rides, gave flying lessons, and flew charter flights in Texas and Oklahoma. His next goal was named Mae Laine. In 1927, Post eloped in with his cousin Mae in his JN-4. Now a married man with responsibilities, he sought the goal of steady, safer, and more lucrative employment. Oil business executive, F.C. Hall
hired Post as his corporate pilot. Soon
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