Wiley Post Sets New Round-the-World Record

In the summer of 1931 the American aviator Wiley Post, flying with his navigator Harold Gatty, set a new record for circling the globe. Departing from Roosevelt Field on Long Island on June 23, the pair completed their around-the-world journey in roughly 8 days and 16 hours, returning on July 1 to a hero's welcome.

Post flew a Lockheed Vega monoplane named Winnie Mae, hopping eastward across the North Atlantic and Europe with stops including Newfoundland, England, Germany, the Soviet cities of Moscow, Omsk, Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk, and points beyond before crossing back to North America. The carefully planned route demonstrated the growing reliability and reach of long-distance flight.

Two years later, in 1933, Post flew the Winnie Mae around the world again, this time solo, aided by an early autopilot and radio navigation. His record flights, along with his pioneering work on high-altitude flight and the pressure suit, made him one of the most influential aviators of the golden age.