Wily Post Suit - Credit: Goodrich. 22,445 bytes. 210 x 358 pixels.

B. F. Goodrich made a full pressure suit for pioneering aviator Wiley Post. It was of double ply rubberized parachute fabric, with pigskin gloves, rubber boots, and aluminium helmet, pressurized to 0.5 bar. The pressure suit used a liquid oxygen source and had arm and leg joints that permitted easy operation of the flight controls and also enabled walking to and from the aircraft. In his Lockheed Vega, the "Winnie May", Post set unofficial altitude records (as high as 15 km), discovering the jet stream in the process. In March 1935, Post flew from Burbank California to Cleveland Ohio in the stratosphere using the jet stream. At times, his ground speed exceeded 550 kph in a 290 kph aircraft. Post's pioneering accomplishments were the first major practical advance in pressurised flight. Ten flights were made in the suit before Post's death in 1935.

• 487 - Sears, William J, A Historical Review of Partial and Full Pressure Suits, . HTML when accessed: http://webpages.charter.net/mcelwain/PSUITS-Chronology.htm