Wiley Post was an integral figure in aviation history. He discovered the jet stream, helped develop one of the first pressure suits and was the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Sadly, his life was cut short on August 15th, 1935, when he crashed in what was the Territory of Alaska with his friend, celebrity Will Rogers. Let's take a look at this tragic incident that happened 86 years ago today.

Born to fly

Post became fascinated with flying as a teenager after visiting a local fair hosting an aeronautical exhibition featuring a Curtiss plane. Soon after, he enrolled in an aviation school in Kansas City, Missouri.

Wiley Post in Billy Parker's plane 'Pusher'
Wiley Post in Billy Parker's plane 'Pusher,' early to mid twentieth century. Photo: Getty Images

The Great War saw him begin advanced training for the predecessor of the US Air Force. However, the war ended before he could start serving. The subsequent years saw him lose an eye in an oil rig accident and eventually become a personal pilot for rich oilman F.C. Hall. The fellow Oklahoman had let Post use his Lockheed Vega in a series of races, winning the 1930 National Air Race Derby.

In subsequent years, Post broke notable records, such as registering the fastest around-the-world flight with his navigator, Harold Gatty, and the 1933 trip around the world that would leave an even bigger mark. By himself, Post smashed his around-the-world record with a time of seven days, eighteen hours, and forty-nine minutes.

The American Aviator Wiley Post In Front Of His Plane, About 1930.
Wiley Post with the 'Winnie Mae' in the 1930s. Photo: Getty Images

An Oklahoma connection

William Penn Adair Rogers was a famed actor, humorist, social commentator, columnist, and even a cowboy. He was born in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, on November 4th, 1879, which is now part of Oklahoma, before traveling around the world three times and making 71 films.

The entertainer became a close companion of Post. Notably, after the aviator’s around-the-world adventure in 1931, Rogers gave Post plenty of praise in his newspaper columns amid his feats. Following the growth of their friendship, Post recommended that Rogers should join him in the air to get away from his pressures at work.

Challenges in Hollywood and the newspaper industry were getting to Rogers. So, the aviation enthusiast didn’t think twice about joining Post on his aircraft.

Wiley Post And Harold Gatty Parading After Having Gone Around The World In 1931
Post flew around the world with Australian navigator Harold Gatty in the summer of 1931 before doing it solo in July 1933. Photo: Getty Images

A different transport

The plane that the pair would hop on would not be the legendary Winnie Mae. By this period, the Lockheed Vega had become worn out after heading into the stratosphere, reaching 547 km/h (340 mph) while cruising in the jet stream.

Post came up with a risky solution for his new build, which would prove fatal in the end.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum highlights the following:

"Post had replaced [Winnie Mae] with a new aircraft which combined a Lockheed Orion fuselage mated with wings from a different model Lockheed aircraft – an Explorer. As Post was not an aeronautical engineer, the combination was potentially hazardous and he made it more so by adding floats from a larger Fokker aircraft. This made the aircraft dangerously nose-heavy."

The hybrid took a former Transcontinental & Western Air Lockheed Model 9E Orion Special with registration NC12283 and fitted it with a wing from a Lockheed Model 7 Explorer. Moreover, This Day In Aviation shares that the Orion’s 450 hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp SC1 engine was taken over by an “air-cooled, supercharged, 1,343.8-cubic-inch-displacement (22.021L) Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H1 nine-cylinder radial engine”.

First Around The World Pilot Wiley Post
The Winnie Mae was a Lockheed Vega that Post entrusted on his groundbreaking feats across the globe, but it would not join the aviator on his final journey. Photo: Getty Images

On their way

Post had been keen to survey a mail-and-passenger route from the West Coast to Russia. So, with the aircraft concoction, Post and Rogers set flight for Alaska and Russia in August following a test flight in the month prior. There weren’t any notable issues after the duo departed Lake Washington, near Seattle. Rogers continued writing on his typewriter while Post took the helm of the plane as they made numerous stops across Alaska.

Portrait of Will Rogers and Wiley Post
Wiley Post and Will Rogers on the seaplane just before taking off in August 1935. Photo: Getty Images

The crash

The final stop would be Fairbanks. On the way to Point Barrow from Fairbanks, the pair got lost and landed in a lagoon to find out directions. This headland on the Arctic Coast would be the last stop as the engine sputtered while taking off, and the plane hit the water and flipped. The right wing of the plane was sheared off, and the aircraft ended up inverted in the lagoon’s shallow water, killing both onboard the flight instantly.

An investigation followed, which raised major concerns about the way Post put together key parts of his plane from different types. The engine’s failure may have been a result of carburetor icing and not enough elevator surface to counter the nose-heavy plane in a glide.

Wiley Post and Will Rogers
The two friends before leaving Fairbanks, Alaska, during what would be their final trip. Photo: United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division via Wikimedia Commons

Gone but not forgotten

Post was 36 when he passed, while Rogers was 55. Their untimely deaths were met with grief around the world.

Post was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Oklahoma, with many influential aviation figures such as Amelia Earhart among the mourners. Rogers' funeral was held at Hollywood Bowl, and he was buried in Forest Lawn Park, Glendale, California, but he was reinterred at the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum concludes:

"The loss of Post and Rogers near the height of their fame helped ensure their enduring stature as icons of Depression-era America, but their accomplishments stand as evidence that there was still a popular spirit of adventure in the United States that economic crisis could not dampen."

Wiley Post Before Record Air Flight
With numerous honors and tributes, Post inspired countless pilots over the last eight decades. Photo: Getty Images

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Many of those looking back at Rogers' death will remember one of his most famous sayings.

As quoted in The Will Rogers Book by Paula McSpadden Love, Rogers said:

“When I die, my epitaph, or whatever you call those signs on gravestones, is going to read: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident [sic] like." I am so proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved.”

Overall, both Post and Rogers left a legacy that has lasted through the decades. They were truly pioneers in the early days of their industries and contributed massively to the progress of aviation and entertainment.

What are your thoughts about the achievements of Wiley Post and Will Rogers before their passing in 1935? What do you make of the pair’s legacy in their fields over the years? Let us know what you think of the career of the two pioneers in the comment section.

Source: National Air And Space Museum, This Day In Aviation