First solo flight around the world
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031270
On this date in 1933, Wiley Post completed the first solo flight around the world aboard his Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae (pictured, credit Jarek Tuszyński/CC-BY-SA & GDFL.) Leaving from Floyd Bennett Field in New York, through Berlin, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Rukhlovo, Flat, Fairbanks, and Edmonton, the trip took 7 days, 18 hours, 49 minutes. It was actually the second time he’d circumnavigated the world, having set the circumnavigation time record in 1931 with a copilot. He was able to accomplish the solo flight because he had modified the plane to include two new technologies—an autopilot device and a radio direction finder.
Date in History: 22 July 1933
