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| Wiley Post with Gatty in Germany, 1931 (Wikipedia). |
In 1930 the record for Flying around the world was not held by a fixed-wing aircraft, but by the Graf Zeppelin, piloted by Hugo Eckener in 1929 with a time of 21 days.
On June 23, 1931, Post and his navigator Harold Gatty took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York.
The Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae had a flight plan that would take them around the world, stopping at Harbour Grace, Flintshire, Hanover twice, Berlin, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk, Nome where his propeller had to be repaired, Fairbanks where the propeller was replaced, Edmonton, and Cleveland before returning to Roosevelt Field.
They arrived back on July 1, after traveling 15,474 miles (24 903 km) in the record time of 8 days and 15 hours and 51 minutes.
After the flight, Post acquired the Winnie Mae from F.C. Hall, and he and Gatty published an account of their journey titled, Around the World in Eight Days, with an introduction by Will Rogers.
Source: Wikipedia
Post First solo pilot
Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935).
Post decided to attempt a solo flight around the world and to break his previous speed record.
Over the next year, Post improved his aircraft by installing an autopilot device and a radio direction finder that were in their final stages of development by the Sperry Gyroscope Company and the United States Army.
1933.07.15 - 1933.07.22
In 1933, he repeated his flight around the world, this time using the auto-pilot and compass in place of his navigator and becoming the first to accomplish the feat alone. He departed from Floyd Bennett Field and continued on to Berlin where repairs were attempted to his autopilot. He also stopped at Königsberg to replace some forgotten maps, in Moscow for more repairs to his autopilot, in Novosibirsk, in Irkutsk for final repairs to the autopilot. Further stops in Rukhlovo, Khabarovsk, his propeller had to be replaced, Fairbanks, Edmonton, and back to Floyd Bennett Field.
Fifty thousand people greeted him on his return on July 22 after 7 days, 18 hours, 49 minutes30 Sec.
21 hours less than his previous record, and he was given a second ticker-tape parade in New York.
Source: Wikipedia
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