The Grave of Wiley Post

was born in Texas, but Oklahoma claimed him, and for good reason. He grew up poor, worked hard, and lost the sight in one eye after an oil-field accident. For most people, that would have ended any dream of flying. For Wiley Post, it just became part of the story.

His airplane, the Winnie Mae, made him famous. In 1931, he and Harold Gatty flew around the world in less than nine days. Then in 1933, Wiley did it again, this time alone. That made him the first person to fly solo around the world. Not bad for a one-eyed pilot from Oklahoma who refused to stay on the ground.

Post was also ahead of his time. He worked with high-altitude flying and helped develop early pressure suit ideas, the kind of thing that later mattered in aviation and space travel.

Sadly, his story ended on August 15, 1935, near Point Barrow, Alaska. Wiley Post and Will Rogers were killed when their plane crashed. Two Oklahoma legends, gone in the same moment.

Today, his name still lives on at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City. It is a fitting tribute to a man who looked at the sky and decided that was where he belonged.