Aviation Innovator
Wiley Post may be considered the greatest of all American long-distance pilots.
Often considered one of the greatest American long-distance pilots, Wiley H. W. Post, a Grand Saline, Texas native, set an around-the-world speed record in 1930 and flew the world’s first solo circumnavigation flight in 1933. The following year Post established a new world altitude record of 40,000 feet in his Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae. He led the development of the pressure suit for high altitude flying and is credited with discovering the jet stream during his flights in the stratosphere. Post and his friend, American humorist Will Rogers, perished in a plane crash in 1935 while flying in Alaska. The Winnie Mae is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.