Wiley Post, around the world with no stereopsis

Abstract

In 1933, famed aviator Wiley Post (1898-1935) was the first pilot to fly around the world solo. In addition, during one of his many stratospheric flights, he discovered the jet stream. What makes his accomplishments even more remarkable is that he did this monocularly, having lost his left eye from traumatic endophthalmitis following an oil rig accident. He underwent a period of self-imposed visual training to maximize his depth perception, and then accomplished what no one had before.

Keywords: aerospace medicine; binocular vision; history of ophthalmology; monocular depth perception; stereopsis; traumatic endophthalmitis; visual adaptation.