| Birth: | Nov. 22, 1898 | | Death: | Aug. 15, 1935 | 
Pioneer Aviator. He began his career in the early 1920s as a barnstormer pilot, often performing as a parachute jumper. He lost an eye, but learned to fly in spite of that handicap, and was always seen with his distinctive black eye patch. He gained fame as an aerial racer in the early 1930s, winning the Bendix Trophy while flying in his signature airplane "Winne Mae". He twice completed a single plane round-the-world flight (in 1931, he did it in 8 days, 16 hours, in 1933 he bettered his mark by doing it in 7 Days, 19 hours), and pioneered a number of aviation inventions, including the automatic pilot and the high-altitude pressure suit. Friends with humorist Will Rogers, they were both killed in a crash Wiley Post was piloting over Alaska on August 15, 1935. In 1979 the United States Postal Service honored him on a US Airmail Stamp. A Memorial for him and Will Rogers stand today in Nehalem, Alaska, near where their plane went down. (bio by: Russ Dodge)
Search Amazon for Wiley Post | | | Burial:
Will Rogers-Wiley Post Memorial
*
Barrow
North Slope Borough
Alaska, USA
*Cenotaph [?] |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Aug 09, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 2620 |
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