Good Morning and Welcome Back to the 3DB. I hope the week has been good for you, and yours, and with the weekend fast approaching I hope you will be able to have some time off to enjoy life beyond aviation. This week I want to give you a brief overview of a man that aviation has all but forgotten. Wiley Post’s exploits were many and his contributions to the world of aviation were varied; however, today we are going to talk only about his record setting flights around the world and next week I will have an in depth article on this aviation pioneer.
The first flight that Post made around the world, June, 1931, was with a navigator on board. This flight took eight days, fifteen hours, and fifty-one minutes.
The second flight, July, 1933, was without a navigator but Post equipped the Winnie Mae with a new device, developed by Sperry called an autopilot, which was still experimental; in addition, he also used a radio receiver that allowed him to home in on radio stations. This receiver was being developed by the Army and they were more than happy to have Post use his airplane as a test bed. Post completed his solo flight around the world in seven days, eighteen hours, and forty-nine minutes.
I have two links below for videos that detail the flights Post made, and while the quality is not as good as I would like it to be, I think you will find value in the content.
Next week I will continue with our look back at Wiley Post and until then I wish the best for you and yours and hope that the weekend brings a little relief from the daily grind of life.
Robert Novell
October 26, 2012