# Winnie Mae > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Winnie_Mae > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Winnie_Mae.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie_Mae > Source revision: 1325354765 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Aircraft flown by Wiley Post}} {{italic title}} {{Infobox aircraft | name = ''Winnie Mae'' | image = NASM-NASM2014-01654.jpg{{!}}border | caption = ''Winnie Mae'' at the Smithsonian's [Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center](/source/Steven_F._Udvar-Hazy_Center) | type = [Lockheed Vega](/source/Lockheed_Vega) | manufacturer = [Lockheed Corporation](/source/Lockheed_Corporation) | construction_date = 1930 | civil_registration = NR105W | owners = [Florence C. Hall](/source/Florence_C._Hall), [Wiley Post](/source/Wiley_Post) | preservation = [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution) displayed at the [National Air and Space Museum](/source/National_Air_and_Space_Museum) }} The '''''Winnie Mae''''' is a modified [Lockheed 5C Vega](/source/Lockheed_Vega) flown by [Wiley Post](/source/Wiley_Post) during the [1930 National Air Races](/source/National_Air_Races), winning first place with a time of 9 hours, 9 minutes, and 4 seconds, as well as setting records for the fastest around-the-world flight in 1931, with a time of 8 days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes, the first solo around-the-world flight in 1933,{{Cite web |title=Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae {{!}} National Air and Space Museum |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/lockheed-vega-winnie-mae/nasm_A19360030000 |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=airandspace.si.edu |language=en}} and the flight altitude record in 1934, reaching 50,000 feet.{{Citation |title=Wiley Post: Setting Long-Distance Records in the Winnie Mae | date=22 March 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xyJHVN-lyE |access-date=2023-12-21 |language=en}} The ''Winnie Mae'' was sold to the [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution) after [Wiley Post](/source/Wiley_Post)'s death, where it is currently being displayed at the [National Air and Space Museum](/source/National_Air_and_Space_Museum) in [Chantilly, Virginia](/source/Chantilly%2C_Virginia). == History == The ''Winnie Mae'' was built in 1930 by the [Lockheed Corporation](/source/Lockheed_Corporation) in Burbank, California, with the serial number 122 as a Lockheed 5B model.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-22 |title=The Winnie Mae of Oklahoma {{!}} This Day in Aviation |url=https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/the-winnie-mae-of-oklahoma/ |access-date=2023-12-21 |language=en-US}} In June of 1930, [Florence C. Hall](/source/Florence_C._Hall), an oil baron based in [Chickasha, Oklahoma](/source/Chickasha%2C_Oklahoma), purchased the Winnie Mae for $22,000 and named it after his daughter. The plane had been intended for personal use and Hall's personal pilot, [Wiley Post](/source/Wiley_Post), would pilot the aircraft.{{Cite web |title=Winnie Mae {{!}} The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=WI030 |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Oklahoma Historical Society {{!}} OHS}} On August 27th, 1930, with permission from the plane's owner Florence C. Hall, Wiley Post entered the Winnie Mae in the [National Air Races](/source/National_Air_Races). Winning first place in the men's non-stop cross-country derby securing a cash prize of $7,500 and setting a record time of 9 hours, 9 minutes, and 4 seconds; an achievement which was painted on the plane's [fuselage](/source/fuselage).{{Cite web |title=The Winnie Mae {{!}} Time and Navigation |url=http://timeandnavigation.si.edu/navigating-air/early-air-navigators/two-men-in-a-hurry/winnie-mae |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=timeandnavigation.si.edu |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=18 November 1979 |title=Stamps Aviation Pioneer Series Adds Pair-for Wiley Post |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/18/archives/stamps-aviation-pioneer-series-adds-pair-for-wiley-post.html}} [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-11928, Ozeanflieger Wiley Post und Harold Gatty.jpg|thumb|220x220px|[Wiley Post](/source/Wiley_Post) with [Harold Gatty](/source/Harold_Gatty) in front of the ''Winnie Mae'' in Germany, 1931]] On June 23rd, 1931, Wiley Post along with Australian aviator [Harold Gatty](/source/Harold_Gatty) acting as navigator departed New York in an attempt to beat the record for the fastest around-the-world flight. After 14 refueling stops they landed back in New York on July 1st, 1931, having completed the circuit in 8 days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes. Being the first to complete an around-the-world flight in a [fixed-wing aircraft](/source/fixed-wing_aircraft) and beating [Hugo Eckener](/source/Hugo_Eckener)'s previous record of 21 days, 5 hours, and 31 minutes in a [Zeppelin](/source/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin). After completing the flight, Wiley Post acquired ''Winnie Mae'' from [Florence C. Hall](/source/Florence_C._Hall). On July 8th, 1931, Wiley Post competed in the [National Air Races](/source/National_Air_Races) again with the ''Winnie Mae'', being beaten by [Jimmy Dolittle](/source/Jimmy_Doolittle) in a [Laird Super Solution](/source/Laird_Super_Solution). In 1932, Wiley Post converted the ''Winnie Mae'' from a Lockheed 5B to a Lockheed 5C model and installed various other modifications. Its [Wasp C](/source/Pratt_%26_Whitney_Wasp_series) engine was upgraded with cylinders from a [Wasp C1](/source/Pratt_%26_Whitney_Wasp_series), increasing the horsepower from 420 to 500. Its fixed-pitch propeller was upgraded to a Smith 450-SI [variable-pitch propeller](/source/Variable-pitch_propeller_(aeronautics)), and the wing's [angle of incidence](/source/Angle_of_incidence_(aerodynamics)) was decreased by 10 degrees to increase the plane's airspeed by approximately 10 MPH (16 KPH). In 1933, Wiley Post installed a [Sperry](/source/Sperry_Corporation) [gyroscopic autopilot](/source/gyroscopic_autopilot), a fairly new invention at the time, and added six auxiliary fuel tanks in preparation for his solo around-the-world flight, giving the Winnie Mae a fuel capacity of 645 gallons. [[File:Winnie Mae July 20th 1933.jpg|thumb|''Winnie Mae'' after crash landing near [Flat, Alaska](/source/Flat%2C_Alaska), July 20th, 1933]] On July 15th, 1933, Wiley Post departed [Floyd Bennett Airfield](/source/Floyd_Bennett_Field), New York, in the ''Winnie Mae'' on what would become the first solo around-the-world flight. At 11:58 A.M. (AKST) on July 20th, 1933, after a 3,000-mile leg from [Khabarovsk](/source/Khabarovsk), [Siberia](/source/Siberia) to [Nome](/source/Nome%2C_Alaska), Alaska, Post overflew his destination and got lost, crash-landing next to a [U.S. Army Signal Corps](/source/United_States_Army_Signal_Corps) radio station at [Flat, Alaska](/source/Flat%2C_Alaska) after 7 hours of searching for an airfield. The aircraft's wheels sank into the soft ground causing the plane to nose over, damaging its propeller, [engine cowling](/source/Cowling), and right landing gear strut. Replacement parts were flown in from [Fairbanks, Alaska](/source/Fairbanks%2C_Alaska), and after repairs, the ''Winnie Mae'' departed Alaska the following day at 7:28 A.M. (AKST). Post completed his record-breaking solo around-the-world flight in 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes, stopping 11 times for fuel. When the ''Winnie Mae'' landed back in New York on July 22nd, over 50,000 spectators gathered to catch a glimpse of Wiley Post and his now-famous aircraft.{{Cite web |last=Maksel |first=Rebecca |title=Wiley Post's Historic Around-the-World Flight |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/follow-path-wiley-posts-historic-around-world-flight-180947934/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}thumb|Wiley Post's pressure suitIn early 1934, Wiley Post started modifying the Winnie May for high-altitude long-distance flights, [supercharging](/source/Supercharger) the engine and adding jettisonable landing gear as well as a skid to land on, this design was chosen to reduce [drag](/source/Drag_(aerodynamics)) on the aircraft. The ''Winnie Mae'' could not be [pressurized](/source/Cabin_pressurization) due to its wooden construction, so Post had a full-body pressure suit made with financial support from the [Phillips Petroleum Company](/source/ConocoPhillips). On December 7th, 1934, Post flew the ''Winnie Mae'' to an estimated fifty thousand feet above [Bartlesville, Oklahoma](/source/Bartlesville%2C_Oklahoma), unofficially setting the [flight altitude record](/source/flight_altitude_record) for a fixed-wing aircraft. Wiley Post understood that planes fly faster at higher altitudes, so he set out to beat the current cross-country speed record. After four failed attempts, Post settled for the [Burbank, California](/source/Burbank%2C_California), to [Cleveland, Ohio](/source/Cleveland), route, which he completed on March 15, 1935, covering the 2,035 miles in the [stratosphere](/source/stratosphere) in 7 hours, 19 minutes at an impressive 340 MPH (547 KPH). For comparison, the Lockheed 5C Vega normally had a top speed of 185 MPH (298 KPH). The ''Winnie Mae'' was able to achieve its high speeds by flying in the [jet stream](/source/jet_stream), a fast-flowing atmospheric air current. [Wiley Post](/source/Wiley_Post) died in a plane crash on August 15, 1935, while flying a modified [Lockheed Orion](/source/Lockheed_Model_9_Orion) near [Point Barrow](/source/Point_Barrow), Alaska. Shortly after in 1936, Post's widow sold the ''Winnie Mae'' for $25,000 to the [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution), which still preserves it at the [National Air and Space Museum](/source/National_Air_and_Space_Museum) in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Sally |title=Widow of Aviator Wiley Post Dies in Texas After Long Illness |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1984/03/18/widow-of-aviator-wiley-post-dies-in-texas-after-long-illness/62809998007/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=The Oklahoman |language=en-US}} == Specifications == {{Aircraft specs|prime units?=imp |crew=1|length ft=27|length in=6|span ft=41|span note=|height ft=8|height in=2|wing area sqft=275|empty weight lb=2595|gross weight lb=4500|fuel capacity={{cvt|645|USgal|impgal l}} |eng1 number=1|eng1 hp=500|prop blade number=2|prop name=Smith 450-SI [variable-pitch propeller](/source/Variable-pitch_propeller_(aeronautics))|max speed mph=340|max speed note=at 55,000 ft. 185 mph (298 km/h, 161 kn) normally.|ceiling note=approximately|ceiling ft=50,000|ref=''Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae {{!}} National Air and Space Museum''}} == References == == See also == * [List of preserved Lockheed aircraft](/source/List_of_preserved_Lockheed_aircraft) Category:1930s aircraft Category:Smithsonian Institution exhibitions Category:Lockheed Corporation Category:Aircraft Research aircraft Category:Experimental aircraft --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Winnie Mae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie_Mae) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie_Mae?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.