An oil field roughneck and former criminal—he once served a year in jail for robbery—Post began his aviation career by working as a part-time parachutist and stunt pilot.
Wiley Post’s achievements in the cockpit were second to none, yet the Oklahoma native never achieved the legendary status of Charles Lindbergh or Amelia Earhart. One biography of him was even titled “Forgotten Eagle.” An oil field roughneck and former criminal—he once served a year in jail for robbery—Post began his aviation career by working as a part-time parachutist and stunt pilot. His dreams of flight nearly ended after a 1926 oil rig accident left him blind in his left eye, but he soldiered on and used the insurance money to buy his first airplane. He won a major Los Angeles to Chicago air race in 1930, and in 1931 he and navigator Harold Gatty used a Lockheed Vega called the “Winnie Mae” to shatter the record for the fastest around-the-world flight.