The three airplanes flown by Wiley Post during 1929-1935 had the following histories (information derived from FAA records and Revolution in the Sky by Richard S. Allen, The Stephen Greene Press, Brat- tleboro, Vermont, 1964).
Winnie Mae # / :
The first "Winnie Mae" was a Lockheed Vega completed on August 12, 1928, containing license number NC7954 (and NR7954). A Pratt and Whit- ney Wasp engine, Number 920, 420 horsepower, was installed. This airplane was about the fourth "Wasp- Vega" to come off the production line. It did not have an "approved Type Certificate." The award of an
"ATC" was first made by the Aeronautics Branch of
the Department of Commerce in 1927, but it took some time to get around to all of die companies (U.S.
Civil Aircraft, Vol. 1, Joseph Juptner, Aero Publish- ers, Inc., Los Angeles, California, 1962).
These Vegas had a 41 foot wing span and a 102 inch chord at the wing root. The wing used a Clark Y-18 airfoil at the root and a Clark Y-9.5 airfoil at the tip. The wing had 275 square feet of area. The aircraft were 27 feet 8 inches long and stood 8 feet 6 inches high. They weighed 2,361 pounds when empty, and had a useful load of 1,672 pounds. The payload was 1,012 pounds. The gross weight was 4,033 pounds.
This early type Vega could cruise at 140 mph with a 170 mph top speed. It landed at 54 mph, and climbed at 1300 feet per minute. The ceiling was
124
20,000 feet. The fuel capacity was 96 gallons, with ten gallons of oil for the large nine cylinder engine. The range was 725 miles. In July of 1928, the factory price was $18,500.
The fuselage was put together by making two shell halves of laminated plywood. Each shell was shaped in a concrete tub mold. Circular wood formers were placed inside the fuselage.
The fuselage was fabric covered. The wings were made of spruce spars and spruce and plywood ribs. A plywood veneer, fabric covered, made up the outer wing. The tail was all wood.
Fuel tanks were placed in the wings, a metal pro- peller and wheel brakes were installed, and a starter using the inertia principle was standard.
F. C. Hall of Chickasha, Oklahoma, purchased Vega NC7954 in 1928 for $20,240, which included a special paint and lettering job. The airplane was named for Winnie Mae, Hall's daughter, and in 1929 was sold back to Lockheed. The name "Winnie Mae"
was deleted.
Roscoe Turner named the airplane Sirius and flew it in the 1929 National Air Race. Nevada Airlines of Los Angeles bought the aircraft in 1929 and kept it until 1930. Wheel pants and a NACA cowl were used on the plane when Art Goebel flew it in the 1930 National Air Race (coming in second, behind Wiley Post in Hall's second "Winnie Mae" Vega). Goebel flew the airplane until 1936 when Laura Ingalls flew it from 1936 to 1941. Miss Ingalls had an accident in it in Albuquerque, August 11, 1941. She was unhurt, but the airplane was destroyed.
Winnie Mae #2:
In early 1930, a Vega model 5B was completed which was destined to hold license numbers NC105W and NR105W. F. C. Hall purchased this airplane from Lockheed in 1930 and again used the name
"Winnie Mae". The airplane was white with purple and blue trim. It had a Pratt and Whitney engine, Number 3088, 420 horsepower. The airplane had ATC Number 227. All of Post's flying achievements
between 1930 and 1935 were made in this airplane which is now on display in the Smithsonian Institu- tion. Extensive modifications were made during its five years of flight.
Orion-Explorer:
Wiley Post and Will Rogers were killed in 1935 in
an airplane that was hybrid in nature. During May of 1933, a low wing Lockheed Orion, Model 9E was completed, number NCI2283 (and NR 12283), with ATC Number 508. A Pratt and Whitney Wasp engine of 550 horsepower was used.
Transcontinental and Western Air of Kansas City bought the airplane in 1933 and flew it for about two years. In 1935 Charles Babb of Glendale, Califor- nia, purchased the fuselage (Babb was an airplane broker). Babb also had purchased the wing to Lock- heed Explorer, Model 7 (Special), number NR101W, manufactured in April of 1930 (this airplane had no ATC certificate). The Explorer was a low wing air- craft, similar to the Lockheed Sirius (a type used in the early 1930's by Lindbergh) but with wings about six feet longer than those of the Sirius. The Explorer noted above was designed especially for a non-stop Paris to New York City attempt to be made by Art Goebel. It had a gasoline capacity of 800 gallons and was named Yankee Doodle. For some reason Goebel didn't take the plane but Pure Oil Company did. The plane was renamed the Blue Flash, painted blue and white, and Roy Ammel planned to fly it to Paris or Rome from New York. It was damaged by a ground fire in Gila Bend, Arizona, in 1930, repaired at Lock- heed, and then flown by Ammel non-stop to the Canal Zone from New York City (the first non-stop flight over this route). It was damaged in an accident on November 21, 1930 at Ancon, Canal Zone. The wing was salvaged and acquired by Babb.
Babb put the Orion fuselage and the Explorer wing together to form a "hybrid" airplane. The Lockheed Company did not like the idea. However, in the depression years, fast airplanes were scarce and expen- sive and this was one way to reincarnate one.
The hybrid airplane had a fixed landing gear, was painted red, and P and W Wasp engine S3H1 No.
5778 was installed. A three bladed variable pitch prop was used. Seaplane floats made by Edo were installed in Seattle. The float installation made the airplane nose-heavy due to forward displacement of the center of gravity.
The aircraft was damaged beyond repair in the fatal accident of Post and Rogers near Point Barrow, Alaska, on August 15, 1935.
The Explorer wingspan was 48 feet six inches (compared to the Orion and Sirius wingspan of 42 feet 9V2 inches). The area of 313 square feet compared to 294.1 square feet for the Orion and 275 for the Vega. The Vega fuselage length of 27 feet six inches was the same as the Orion fuselage length as well as that of the Explorer.