Wiley Post wore the world’s first practical pressure suit, an important step on the road to human space travel. The suit was the third type developed by Post and Russell S. Colley of the B. F. Goodrich Company. It consisted of three layers: long underwear. an inner black rubber air-pressure bladder, and an outer contoured cloth suit. A pressure helmet was then bolted onto the suit. It had a removable faceplate Post could seal when he reached an altitude of 17,000 feet. The helmet had an oxygen system and could accommodate earphones and a throat microphone. The suit could withstand an internal pressure of 7 pounds per square inch. Bandolera-type cords prevented the helmet from rising as the suit was pressurized. A liquid oxygen container, consisting of a double-walled vacuum bottle, utilized the natural "boil off" tendencies of supercold liquid oxygen to furnish gaseous oxygen for suit pressurization and breathing purposes. This early full-pressure suit is the direct ancestor of full-pressure suits used on the X-15 research airplane and manned space voyages. The Winnie Mae, its jettisonable landing gear, and Post’s pressure suit are in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum.
It was during my research on Wiley Post that I learned what had happened to Will Rogers. I never knew any of this before...
During the summer of 1935, Wiley Post and the famous American humorist, Will Rogers, ventured north to Alaska. From left to right, Rogers, famous Alaskan musher Leonhard Seppala, Post, and famous bush pilot Joe Crosson, stand near Post's Lockheed monoplane on a floatplane dock on the Chena River near Fairbanks. Against Crosson's advice, Post and Rogers pushed on from there and died in an airplane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska, on August 15.
Click on link for info about Post and the plane...
The Winnie Mae
Click on link for several images of the plane...
Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae
Click on link for lenghy info about the men and their fateful journey...
How Wiley Post and Will Rogers Died
Fascinating. More history I do not know... thanks for sharing, Rick.
ReplyDeleteif nothing else he's got a great first name - Wiley. Fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteAnon@1:41pm - I'm sure it suited him perfectly.
ReplyDelete