by Hank Nuwer
At age 22, an Oklahoma boy from a good family went bad.
This happened in 1921 when he decided to arrange a highway robbery near his home in Chickasha, Oklahoma.
He stashed an obstruction on the road between Ninnekah and Chickasha, forcing a car loaded with four men to halt.
But as the youth relieved his victims of wallets and watches, one of the men grabbed the gun. The four bundled him into the car and dropped him off with law enforcement.
Thus, young W. H. (Wiley) Post at 22 began adulthood incarcerated in an Oklahoma penitentiary.
When he left prison in 1922, Post found employment on an oil rig and freelanced as an airplane daredevil. While a friend piloted a plane, Post scampered out of his seat and thrilled audiences by walking between the wings. He also performed stunts while parachuting.
An accident cost him his eye in 1926 when a piece of metal broke off, and the eye got infected. The oil roughneck used the compensation to purchase his own first plane. He wore an eye patch ever more.
Always a risktaker, Wiley Post shared the world’s stage with Charles Lindbergh for doing aviation feats of endurance still recalled by historians and common folk alike.
The whole nation soon learned about Post and his aircraft named “Winnie Mae.”
In 1931, with flyer Harold Gatty, Post flew around the world in eight days, 15 hours.
In 1933, Post soloed around the world in seven days, 18 hours, and 49.5 minutes.
Wiley Post’s next dream was to conquer the stratosphere. His goal was to cross the continent at an altitude of 32,500-plus feel in less than eight hours.
He tried and failed four times. On the last try, he retired Winnie Mae.
In 1935, Post launched a new aircraft that he cobbled together from the parts of several airplanes.
It is possible that one or more parts were incompatible.
For on the night of August 15, 1935, traveling with his friend, the actor and
humorist Will Rogers, Post crashed his plane traveling to Barrow, Alaska, the top of the
world.
Alaska natives who had just been speaking with Post and Rogers on the ground,
saw the crash and informed authorities.
The plane developed engine trouble on takeoff and plunged into the river.
Rescuers easily extricated the body of Rogers but the engine of the plane pushed deep
into the cockpit, trapping Post’s corpse.
The entire country went into mourning for a daredevil aviator and the country’s
most beloved humorist.
“Both were outstanding Americans and will be missed,” wrote President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt in a tribute.