FIRST to Solo around the Earth (Wiley Post) - OKC, OK
Posted by: 
Max and 99
N 35° 36.293 W 097° 29.443
14S E 636708 N 3941174
"First to solo around the earth, Discoverer of the Jet Stream, self-taught Scientist"
Waymark Code: WMKKEK
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 04/26/2014
Views: 17
This "First" for Wiley Post is detailed on a historical marker at Memorial Park Cemetery, near his final resting place. The marker is in the center median of the road, and both sides of this large marker have the same graphics and text.
From wikipedia:
Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the period known as the Golden Age of Aviation, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits and discovered the jet stream. On August 15, 1935, Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post's aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska.
Text on marker:
Wiley Hardeman Post, born November 22, 1898, in Texas, moved to Oklahoma at an early age. He grew up on the Post family farm near Maysville in southern Oklahoma. When he was 13, he saw his first airplane, and dreamed of becoming a pilot.
Post was a parachute jumper for a barnstorming aerial circus until he accumulated enough money to buy his own airplane. Tragically, he lost his left eye in an oil field accident near Seminole in 1926. The following year he was hired as a company pilot by oil man F.C. Hall of Chickasha. Hall bought a new Lockheed Vega airplane and named it after his daughter, Winnie Mae.
Post and Australian navigator Harold Gatty flew around the world in eight days in 1931. After a reception at the White House and ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City, Post returned to Oklahoma.
In 1933, Post, with funds contributed by many Oklahomans, became the first person to fly around the world alone. His epic seven day flight was called by Howard Hughes, "the most remarkable flight in history." Post was greeted by 50,000 people when he arrived back in New York City.
In 1934, with the financial backing of Oklahoma oil pioneer Frank Phillips, Post planned flights to test the "thin air" in the stratosphere above 50,000 feet. The Winnie Mae, made of plywood, could not be pressurized so Post developed the pressurized flying suit, the forerunner of the modern space suit.
In December 1934, Post flew into the stratosphere over Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and is credited with discovering the jet stream.
On August 15, 1935, Post and his fellow Oklahoman Will Rogers were killed when Post's Orion-Explorer crashed on takeoff from a remote Eskimo fishing village near Point Barrow, Alaska.
Post's funeral at First Baptist Church in downtown Oklahoma City was the largest in state history. The final resting place of Wiley Post is a few feet east of this monument.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 07/22/1933
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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