MAYSVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

WILEY POST

1898 - 1935

POST, WILEY HARDEMAN (1898-1935). Wiley Hardeman Post, aviator, fourth son of William Francis and Mae (Quinlan) Post, was born near Grand Saline in Van Zandt County, Texas, on November 22, 1898 and moved to Maysville, Oklahoma as a youngster.  While he was born in Texas, he always considered Maysville his home town. 

Most ordinary folk living today, who don't live in Maysville, have never heard of Wiley Post unless it is in connection with the death of beloved Oklahoma Humorist, Will Rogers at Point Barrow, Alaska in August of 1935.  What most people don't know about Wiley is that, prior to that event, he was one of the most famous and innovative aviators of his time.

Wiley was most famous for making the first ever flight around the world along with his navigator Harold Gatty in 1931.  Just a couple of short years later, Wiley made the first ever solo flight around the world in 1933.  He was world renouned for his feats of flying as well as for the technological advances he had made to the field of Aviation.  One of the most important examples of his pioneering achievements was his invention and patenting of the first pressurized flight suit.  This suit stablized the air pressure surrounding the body so that he could fly high altitudes without danger to his body or his life.  This suit later became the prototype for the Space Suit worn by austronauts years later in the United States Space Program.  Wiley is also credited with discovering the Jet Stream and inventing the first Automatic Pilot device.

Wiley's plane, the Winnie Mae, was almost as famous as he was.  This was his vehicle to explore the wild blue yonder.  There are many photos, paintings, and replications of the Winnie Mae on display at the Maysville Public Library.  After his death, his plane, the Winnie Mae, was sold to the Smithsonian Institution.  It now resides at the Dulles International Air Museum near Washington, D.C.

One of the most wonderful aspects, in my opinion, of Wiley Post's story, is the little known fact that Wiley's successes came after a lifetime of adversity.  Wiley discovered he did not like life as a farmer and as a young man got into a little trouble with the law.  This resulted in being placed in the State Penetentiary in Granite, Oklahoma.  While there, Wiley changed his life and learned all he could about mechanics.  Suffering from clostraphobia, Wiley had a hard time living behind bars.  This began his struggle with depression that plagued him for years to come.

Later, when released, he began working in the Oklahoma Oil Fields where he lost his left eye in an accident in 1926 near Seminole, Ok.  His was one of the first workman's compensation claims in the state and the money he received from the proceeds was used to buy an old plane.

And the rest...as they say...is History!

(More information about Wiley and his Maysville Connection to come)

Links for more Wiley Post Information:

http://www.wileypost.com/

http://www.acepilots.com/post.html