The Lockheed Vega was one of the most famous record-breaking airplanes of the early 1930s. The beautifully streamlined, high-wing, single-engine monoplane was designed by John Northrop and Gerrard Vultee, two aviation pioneers who later established their own aircraft companies. Although the Vega first flew in July, 1927, it was during the early 1930s that the plane established its reputation for rugged reliability and airworthiness. It was designed as a small transport aircraft, carrying six passengers and a crew of two. Lockheed built about 130 of them between 1927 and 1934.

In addition to Wiley Post, two female aviators, Amelia Earhart and Ruth Nichols flew the planes.

Post first achieved national prominence in 1930,when he won the National Air Race Derby, from Los Angeles to Chicago. The side of the Winnie Mae's fuselage was inscribed: "Los Angeles to Chicago 9 hrs. 9 min. 4 sec. Aug. 27, 1930." The Winnie May is on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum (NASM).

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In 1931, Wiley Post flew around the world in the Winnie Mae with his navigator, Harold Gatty. (Gatty was a renowned aviator in his own right. An Australian naval cadet, he had accompanied Roscoe Turner on a trans-contintental flight in 1929. In 1930, he flew with Harold Bromley on an unsuccessful Trans-Pacific attempt. He devised the ground-speed and drift indicator which formed the basis of the automatic pilot. During the War, he served on McArthur's staff as Director of Air Transport and wrote the Raft Book-a survival manual for downed Allied aircrews. He founded Fiji Airways, now Air Pacific, in 1951.)