Opposite: US Patent No. 1,991,601. Wiley Post invented a flight suit much like those used by deep sea divers for his flight tests in the stratosphere during 1934. B.F. Goodrich made the rubberized body. (Photo: NASM)
Post was at the controls of a new Lockheed Vega, painted white with purple stripes. Hall named it Winnie Mae, after his daughter. When Hall’s business slumped in 1930, Post was again out of work.
THE EARTHROUNDER With the help of friends, Post got a job as a test pilot for Lockheed in Burbank, CA. Notwithstanding his uneven temperament, Post managed to endear himself to many. Earhart’s biographer, Doris Rich, describes Post as one of Earhart’s “old pals.” It was during this time that Earhart had Post flight-test her pre-owned Vega at the Lockheed plant. When he determined it was not safe to fly, she traded it in on a new Vega. When business picked up again, Hall purchased another Vega, and again he named it Winnie Mae. He re-hired Post, promising him use of the aircraft to enter competitive flying. Post modified the Vega and won the 1930 National Air Race (LA-Chicago) literally propelling him into the realm of an accomplished aviator. His new goal: Fly the Winnie Mae around the world. In 1931, Post and his Australian
navigator, Harold Gatty, took off from New York on their flight around the world, which took 8 days and 16 hours. Post bought Hall’s Winnie Mae and modified it for his next goal: A solo flight around the world. Post took off from New York
two years later with an autopilot and radio direction finder added to his instrument panel. Historian Carroll Glines noted that as reporters chronicled the event Post chose to wear a “double-breasted business suit,” unlike other aviators who dressed for show, wearing riding pants, boots, helmet, and goggles. After hours of fatigue and stress en route he was offered a full meal at his first stop. He declined, commenting
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that so far he had survived on tomato juice and chewing gum. Flying solo for 7 days and 19 hours he was greeted upon his return to New York by thousands. Post now held the record for the fastest flight around the world. He was also the first to
circumnavigate the globe solo, and the first aviator to have made the flight twice. There seemed no limit to Post’s aspirations. He was certain that speed at high altitudes would be the future for all aviation. His new goal was to
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