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{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
 | name=Wiley Post Model A
 | image=File:Wiley Post Model A.jpg
 | caption=
}}{{Infobox aircraft type
 | type=two seat sports biplane
 | national origin=[[United States]]
 | manufacturer=Wiley Post Aircraft
 | designer=[[Ross Holmes (aeronautics)|Ross Holmes]] and [[Glenn Stearman]]
 | first flight=1934
 | introduced=
 | retired=
 | status=
 | primary user=
 | more users= <!--Limited to three in total; separate using <br /> -->
 | produced= <!--years in production-->
 | number built=about 13
 | program cost= <!--Total program cost-->
 | unit cost= <!--Incremental or flyaway cost for military or retail price for commercial aircraft-->
 | developed from=Straughn A 
 | variants with their own articles=
}}
|}
The '''Wiley Post Model A''' is a U.S. two seat sports [[biplane]], built in small numbers in the 1930s.

==Design and development==

The 1934 Model A [[biplane]] is a development of the Straughn A, designed by Ross Holmes and Glenn Stearman in 1931 and originally built as a [[parasol wing]] [[monoplane]] but converted to a biplane before [[Straughn Aircraft]] were subsumed by [[Wiley Post Aircraft]]. Three were built.<ref name=AeroFs/><ref name=AeroFw/>

Little changed from its predecessor, the Wiley Post Model A is an unequal span, [[biplane#bays|single bay biplane]] with significant [[stagger (aeronautics)|stagger]]. Its two-[[spar (aeronautics)|spar]] wings are rectangular in plan apart from blunted tips and are built from [[spruce]] and [[mahogany]] [[plywood]] with [[aircraft fabric covering]]. The lower wings are shorter in [[chord (aeronautics)|chord]] as well as span, so the outward-leaning, N-form [[interplane strut]]s are non-parallel. Outward-leaning struts from the fuselage support the upper wing, which has a narrow [[trailing edge]] cut-out to improve the pilot's upward field of view. [[Aileron]]s are mounted only on the upper wings.<ref name=AeroD/>

The fuselage has a Cr/Mo steel tube structure and is fabric-covered. Its engine is a Straughn 1000, an adaptation of the {{cvt|40|hp|kW}} unit used in the [[Ford Model A (1927–1931)|Ford A]] car with its [[radiator (engine cooling)|radiator]] under the upper wing centre-section. The open cockpit under the upper wing [[trailing edge]] cut-out seats two side by side with dual controls.  Its wire-braced, rounded tail is conventional, built with the same structure as the fuselage. Control surfaces are not aerodynamically balanced.<ref name=AeroD/>

The Model A has conventional, fixed [[landing gear]] with mainwheels on split axles hinged the fuselage centre-line. Vertical landing legs, with rubber cord shock absorbers, and their drag struts are mounted on the lower fuselage [[longeron]]s.  There is a leaf-spring [[tailskid]] mounted just ahead of the rudder post.<ref name=AeroD/>

==Operational history==

Production numbers are uncertain but are thought to be about 13. A few airframes survived into the 1970s, with one in restoration.<ref name=VA/>

==Aircraft on display==
* Model A ''NC13961'' (c/n 12), [[Science Museum Oklahoma]], [[Oklahoma City]]<ref name=Ogden/>

==Specifications==
[[File:Wiley Post GA.jpg|thumb]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Aero Digest, April 1935<ref name=AeroD/>
|prime units?=imp
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|genhide=

|crew=one
|capacity=one student or passenger
|length m=
|length ft=19
|length in=9
|length note=
|span m=
|upper span ft=28
|upper span in=6
|lower span ft=24
|lower span in=6
|span note=
|height m=
|height ft=7
|height in=8
|height note=
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=206
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=<!-- sailplanes -->
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=581
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=998
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity={{cvt|7|USgal|Impgal l}}
|more general=
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[Straughn AL-1000]] ([[Ford model 1A]])
|eng1 type=upright, water-cooled four cylinder [[Inline engine (aeronautics)|inline]]
|eng1 kw=<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 hp=40
|more power=

|prop blade number=2
|prop name=Stone
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=wooden

<!--
        Performance
-->
|perfhide=

|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=80
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=70 
|cruise speed note=<br/>
*'''Landing speed:''' {{cvt|25|mph|km/h kn}}
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|range note=
|endurance=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=10000
|ceiling note=
|g limits=<!-- aerobatic -->
|roll rate=<!-- aerobatic -->
|glide ratio=<!-- sailplanes -->
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=600
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=

|more performance=

}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=Ogden>{{cite book |title= Aviation Museums and Collections of North America|last=Ogden|first=Bob| year=2011|edition=2|page=500|publisher=Air-Britain (Historians)  |location=Tonbridge, Kent |isbn= 978-0-851-30-427-4}}</ref>

<ref name=AeroD>{{cite journal |title=Wiley Post Model A|journal=Aero Digest|date= April 1935|volume=26|issue=4|page=92|url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest2619unse/page/92/mode/1up}}</ref>

<ref name=VA>{{cite journal |title=THE WILEY POST BIPLANE|journal=Vintage Aircraft|author=Jack Cox|date= 4 March 1973|volume=1|issue=4|pages=7–9|url=http://members.eaavintage.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/VA-Vol-1-No-4-Mar-1973.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name=AeroFs>{{cite web |url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_st.html|title=Aerofiles:Straughn|author=  |date= |accessdate=30 September 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=AeroFw>{{cite web |url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_wh.html|title=Aerofiles:Wiley Post|author= |date= |accessdate=30 September 2020}}</ref>

}}
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[[Category:Biplanes]]
[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:1930s United States sport aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1934]]