[Last day of the Senate Committee hearings]
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
Mr. Hughes, did you receive $43 million to manufacture 100 XF-11 spy planes for the United States Air Force?
Howard Hughes:
I did.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
How many functional planes did you deliver to the United States Air Force?
Howard Hughes:
None.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
Would you lean a little closer to the microphone, sir?
Howard Hughes:
[annoyed, Howard does so]
None!
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
Did you receive $13 million to manufacture a prototype of a flying boat known as The Hercules?
Howard Hughes:
[clears throat]
I did.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
And did you deliver that plane?
Howard Hughes:
I did not.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
[stunned]
So, by your admission in this chamber, Mr. Hughes, you have received *$56 million*... for the United States government... for planes you never delivered.
Howard Hughes:
That is correct.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
[Brewster can't believe his own luck, begins chuckling]
Well, excuse me for asking, Mr. Hughes, but... where did all that money go?
Howard Hughes:
Well, it went into the planes, Senator. And a lot more.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
More?
[still darkly chuckling]
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
Do tell, Mr. Hughes? What other larcenies did you commit?
Howard Hughes:
I mean, I put *my* money into these planes, Senator. My money. See, the thing is...
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
[attempting to stop Howard from speaking]
Mr. Hughes, your personal finances are n -- are not...
Another Senator:
[sitting next to Brewster]
Let him speak.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
[wary]
Alright, proceed, Mr. Hughes.
Howard Hughes:
See, the thing is, I care very much about aviation. It has been the great joy of my life. That's why I put my own money into these planes and I've lost millions, Senator Brewster, and I'll go on losing millions. It's just... what I do. Now, if I've lost a lot of the government's money during the war, well, I hope folks will put that into perspective. You see, more than 60 other airplanes ordered from such firms as Lockheed, Douglas, Northrup and Boeing never saw action either. In all, more than $800 million was spent during the war on planes that never flew. Over 6 *billion* on other weapons that were never delivered. Yet, Hughes Aircraft, with her 56 million... is the only firm under investigation here today. Now I cannot help but think that has a little more to do with TWA than planes that did not fly!
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster:
[now worried]
I think you've made your point, Mr. Hughes...
Howard Hughes:
One second, Senator Brewster! I have one more thing to say here to this committee... and that has to do with The Hercules. Now, I am supposed to be... many things that are not complimentary. I am supposed to be capricious. I have been called a playboy. I've even been called an eccentric, but I do not believe I have the reputation of being a liar. Now, needless to say, The Hercules was a monumental undertaking. It is the largest plane ever built. It is over five stories tall with a wingspan longer than a football field. That's more than a city block! Now, I put the sweat of my life into this thing, I got my reputation all rolled up in it. And I have stated several times that if The Hercules fails to fly, I will leave this country and never come back! And I mean it! Now, Senator Brewster, you can subpoena me, you can arrest me, you can claim I've folded up and taken a run-out powder, But, well... I've just about had enough of this nonsense. Good afternoon.
[leaves]
