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The Winnie Mae was built as a Lockheed Vega Model 5B, and modified later to a 5C.

Winnie Mae was named for the daughter of its original owner, F. C. Hall, who hired Wiley Post to pilot the plane, which had been purchased in June 1930. Post later purchased the plane from Hall.

The Smithsonian Institution purchased the Winnie Mae from Mrs. Mae Post after her husband's death. The purchase of the plane for $25,000.00 was approved by an act of congress on August 24, 1935. The actual appropriation of funds was authorized by a separate act of congress on June 22, 1936. Paul Garber of the Smithsonian personally escorted the Winnie Mae to her new home in Washington, D.C.

Included in the sale were the plane's original instruments used on the around-the-world flights. The instruments had been installed in the plane that Post and Rogers flew to Alaska and were retrieved from the wreckage. They have not been reinstalled in the Winnie Mae.

The Winnie Mae is on display at the National Air & Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center adjacent to Washington D.C.'s Dulles Airport.

Wingspan 12.49 m (41 ft.), length 8.38 m (27 ft. 6 in.), height 2.49 m (8 ft. 2 in.), and weight 1,177 kg (2,595 lb.) empty.