born
Although there is still controversy about Howard Hughes's birth date, it is generally believed that Howard Hughes was born on December 24, 1905 in Houston, Texas, USA. His parents are Howard Hughes Sr. and Allene Gano Hughes. Howard Hughes Sr. was the inventor of the double cone rotary drill used for oil drilling and the founder of the Hughes Tool Company. The drill bit invented by Howard Hughes was a revolutionary invention in the history of oil drilling. But Howard Hughes’ parents both died when he was a teenager, and Howard Hughes inherited most of his father’s estate.
Education
In his teens, Howard Hughes declared his life goal to be the best golfer in the world, the best pilot in the world and the best filmmaker in the world. Howard Hughes attended many excellent schools in his life, but he never got a degree. He has attended Fessenden School in West Newton, Massachusetts, Thacher School in Ojai, California, Caltech and Rice Institute (now Rice University). Howard Hughes inherited his father’s company while studying at Rice, and Howard Hughes dropped out of school.
Filmmaker
Howard Hughes used his inherited property to enter the film industry. At first, Howard Hughes was not favored by the film industry, thinking that he was just a rich disciple. But in 1927 he released his debut films "Everybody's Acting" and "Two Arabian Knights", both of which were commercial successes. "Two Arabian Knights" won the Oscar for best comedy director. Both "The Racket" in 1928 and "The Front Page" in 1931 were nominated for Oscars. He spent an unprecedented $4 million in private funds to write and direct the epic air combat epic "Hell Angels" and his 1932 "Scarface" have become very successful films. Howard Hughes's most famous movie is "The Gangster" starring Jane Russell. Due to the violent plot in "Scarface" and the exposed scenes in "The Gangster", these two films were strictly censored by the film industry at that time. "Scarface" was later remade in 1983.
Howard Hughes is a famous playboy. Well-known women who have an affair with him include Catherine Hepburn, Betty Davis, Gene Tierney, Ava Gardner, etc.
The aeronaut and engineer
Howard Hughes has been an aviation enthusiast all his life, a pilot or a self-taught aeronautical engineer. Howard Hughes started learning to fly at the age of 14. He set many flying world records, and also designed and built several airplanes while in charge of the Hughes Aircraft. The most important aircraft he designed should be the Hughes H-1 racer. On September 13, 1935, Howard Hughes drove the H-1 to set a speed record of 566 km/h during the test flight. On January 19, 1937, Howard Hughes drove a modified H-1 to set a flight record from Los Angeles to New York in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds, with an average flight speed of 518 km/h, which was the previous record. Of 9 hours and 27 minutes.
The H-1 racer includes several innovative designs, such as a streamlined fuselage, retractable landing gear, rivets and joints that level the fuselage to reduce air resistance. Zero type, Focke-Wulf FW190, F6F Hellcat and other fighters during World War II were all affected by H-1. In 1975, the H-1 used by Howard Hughes was donated to the National Air and Space Museum under the name of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
On July 10, 1938, Howard Hughes flew a Lockheed Super Electra and set a world record of 91 hours of flying around the world.
In 1938, the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston was named Howard Hughes Airport, but because people opposed the use of the names of people who were still alive, the name of the airport was later changed back to its original name. Howard Hughes won many awards throughout his life. Including the Harmon Trophy in 1936 and 1938, the Collier Trophy in 1939 and the Octave Chanute Award in 1940. The U.S. Congress awarded a Congressional Medal in recognition of its flying around the world. According to the "New York Times" report, Howard Hughes never went to Washington, D.C. to receive the award. In the end, US President Harry S. Truman sent the medal to Howard Hughes.
In 1938, William John Frye, executive director of Transcontinental and Western Air (T&WA), who had worked as a Hollywood aerobatic pilot, purchased a batch of 33-seater Boeing 307 jets. This airliner is the world's first airliner with a pressurized cabin. William John Frye obtained sufficient funds by lobbying Howard Hughes, who is also an aviation avant-garde, and Howard Hughes became the largest investor in T&WA. Thanks to the promotion of Howard Hughes, T&WA has been an active buyer of the most advanced airliners in the 1940s and 1950s. Under the management of Hughes, T&WA has made considerable progress and changed its name to Trans World Airlines, TWA. TWA was acquired by American Airline (AA) in 2001.
Hughes Aircraft Company
Main article: Hughes Aircraft Company
Howard Hughes in 1932 founded Hughes Aircraft Company, the purpose is to be converted into H-1 fighter-type aircraft racing. The company was located in an aircraft warehouse of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation Boban, California, and was a division of Hughes Tool Company at the time. During World War II, the Hughes Aircraft Company became a major supplier of military aircraft, and the helicopter division was established in 1947.
In 1948 Hughes created a new department in the aircraft company, the Hughes Space Group. Since then it has become an independent company. In 1961, it became the Hughes Space and Communications Company. Hughes Aircraft Company was acquired by General Motors in 1985 and became Hughes Electronics. It was sold by General Motors in the late 1990s. Part of it was later incorporated into McDonnell Douglas, and eventually joined Boeing due to McDonnell Douglas' acquisition. Another part of the company was merged by Raytheon in 1998.
Air crash
On July 7, 1946, Howard Hughes crashed into Beverly Hills during a test flight of the XF-11. The plane crashed into three houses and ignited a fire. Howard Hughes was injured and rescued by the US Marine Corps Sergeant Major William L. Durkin who happened to be visiting a friend nearby. Howard Hughes broke six ribs of the collar bone and suffered extensive third-degree burns in this accident. Many people believe that the massive use of morphine and painkillers in his treatment caused Howard Hughes' later opiate addiction. His signature moustache was left after this accident to cover the scar on his upper lip.
Spruce goose
The plane that Howard Hughes made the most effort in his life was the H-4 Hercules. People usually call this plane the "Spruce Goose" (this plane is actually made mostly of birch wood instead of spruce). The "Spruce Goose" is a giant seaplane that still holds the world record for the largest wingspan. Its fuselage height is the same as the Airbus A380, ranking first in the world, but if the landing gear is removed, the "Spruce Goose" will be higher than the Airbus A380. Its length is second only to An-225, and Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 rank fourth in the world. Howard Hughes personally steered her to fly one mile on November 2, 1947. This aircraft was built for use by the United States in World War II, but was only completed after the end of World War II. The U.S. Senate formed an investigative committee and sent Howard Hughes to Washington to explain why the delivery could not be delivered before the end of the war. But the investigation committee was dissolved before the final report was submitted.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes founded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Delaware in 1953 to focus on biomedical research, including the study of "the origin of life itself."
Richard Nixon and Watergate
Prior to the 1960 US presidential election, Richard Nixon was revealed that his brother had accepted Howard Hughes' loan of US$200,000 and never repaid the election.
In the Watergate incident, the office that was broken into belonged to an employee of Howard Hughes.
Glomar Explorer
In 1972, the CIA asked Howard Hughes to help salvage a Soviet submarine that sank near Hawaii. Howard Hughes built a deep-sea submarine Glomar Explorer in the name of collecting manganese nodules on the seafloor to carry out this secret project.
Salvage work started in 1974, but a mechanical failure during the salvage caused the submarine to break and half of the submarine fell to the bottom of the sea. Many people think that among the lost half of the submarine are the codebooks and nuclear missiles of the Soviet Navy. In the half of the submarine that was salvaged, the United States obtained two nuclear torpedoes and a cryptographic machine, and the bodies of six Soviet naval personnel were also salvaged. The staff held regular sea burials and film recordings for the six Soviet naval personnel.
In 1974, a thief stole relevant information from Howard Hughes' office.
In 1975, this operation called "Project Jennifer" was exposed.
Seclusion
Howard Hughes suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. At the end of the 1950s, Howard Hughes, who was once one of the most eye-catching people in the United States, completely disappeared from the public eye. Although tabloids often report rumors about Howard Hughes, most of these news cannot be confirmed. For example, different newspapers have repeatedly reported the death of Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes showed it very early. In the 1930s, a friend of Howard Hughes said that when Howard Hughes ate his favorite beans, he was very concerned about the size of the beans and needed a special fork. The beans are sorted by size before eating. During the filming of The Outlaw, Howard Hughes was very persistent about the small problems of Jane Russell's clothes, claiming that the folds on the clothes made Jane Russell's breasts look like they have two nipples. He later wrote a detailed memo to the staff explaining how to deal with this problem.
Howard Hughes finally fell into a state of complete seclusion, locked himself in the dark room every day. Although he has a barber on call, Howard Hughes only cuts his hair and nails once a year. Where Howard Hughes lives, there are usually several doctors hired by Howard Hughes at a high price, but Howard Hughes rarely allows them to see a doctor and does not listen to them. At the end of his life, Howard Hughes' circle was mainly Mormons, because he believed that only Mormons could believe.
At this stage, Howard Hughes became addicted to cocaine, diazepam and other drugs, and became weaker and weaker. Many biographies and novels say that he used milk bottles to make urine and tissue boxes to make shoes. However, it is reported that he used tissue boxes to make shoes to "protect" himself only once when the toilet leaked. He insisted on putting paper towels when holding things so that he could be separated from germs. Howard Hughes was infected with syphilis when he was very young. During the tertiary syphilis stage, he had small blisters on his hands. It is generally believed that the doctor had warned him not to shake hands with others at this stage. Howard Hughes disagreed. The habit of shaking hands with others lasted a lifetime. Howard Hughes also burned all his clothes. Some people think this was because he was worried that he was afraid that syphilis bacteria would be parasitic in his clothes.
In his later years,
Howard Hughes moved from Beverly Hills to Boston in his old age, and finally moved to Las Vegas and became a casino tycoon. On November 27, 1966, Howard Hughes acquired the Desert Inn (where Wynn Las Vegas is currently located). The eighth floor of the hotel became the control center of his kingdom, and the ninth floor became his private residence.
From 1966 to 1968, he acquired Castaways (currently the location of Mirage and Treasure Island), Frontier (currently New Frontier), The Landmark Hotel and Casino (currently the location of the Las Vegas Convention and Exhibition Center), Sands ( The current location of The Venetian) and Silver Slipper and other major hotels and casinos have freed Las Vegas from the control of the Mafia. He hopes to change the image of gangsters and prostitutes in Las Vegas into "a man in formal clothes and a beautiful woman in jewelry and fur coming out of a luxury car." Because of his insomnia, he bought several Las Vegas local TV stations so that he could watch the shows he wanted to watch in the wee hours of the morning.
Howard Hughes' assets are in the hands of a group that outsiders nicknamed the "Mormon Mafia". In addition to managing Howard Hughes’ huge assets, this group is also responsible for satisfying Howard Hughes’ strange wishes. Howard Hughes wanted to eat the banana nut flavor of Baskin Robbins' once, but Baskin Robbins' has ceased production of this flavor of ice cream, so the "Mormon Mafia" ordered 350 gallons according to Baskin Robins' smallest order. But Howard Hughes said a few days later that he didn't want to eat banana nut flavors anymore. As a result, Desert Inn gave out a year of banana-nut flavored ice cream to its casino customers for free.
As a tycoon in Las Vegas, Howard Hughes has great political and economic influence in Nevada, and can even influence the outcome of the US presidential election. For fear of exposure to nuclear radiation, Howard Hughes also tried to provide US President Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon with $1 million each to stop their underground nuclear tests in Nevada. Howard Hughes's assistant did not actually pay bribes but told him that Johnson refused to accept bribes, and Nixon did not contact him.
In 1971, Jean Peters filed for divorce on the grounds that the two had been separated for a long time. Jean Peters only asked for a lifetime alimony of $70,000 per year, adjusted for inflation, and gave up the property of Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes wanted to give Jean Peters $1 million, but Peters refused. Howard Hughes's assistant said Howard Hughes never said anything bad about Peters. Peters also refused to talk about her life with Howard Hughes, saying only that she hadn't seen Howard Hughes for several years before filing for divorce, and Howard Hughes only talked with her on the phone. Peters also declined invitations from several very tempting biographers and publishers.
In 1972, the writer Clifford Irving announced that he would collaborate with Howard Hughes on an autobiography of Howard Hughes. Before this autobiography was published, Howard Hughes publicly announced that he had never written an autobiography. In the end, Clifford Irving was imprisoned for 14 months due to fraud.
die
On April 5, 1976, 70-year-old Howard Hughes died on a plane while traveling from his Mexican residence to the Methodist Hospital in Houston. Years of negligence made his face unrecognizable, and the FBI finally identified it as Howard Hughes through his fingerprints.
The autopsy believed that he died of kidney failure, but there was still a lethal dose of cocaine and a large amount of diazepam in his blood. Four broken needles were also found on his arm. She suffered multiple fractures and was found to be suffering from severe malnutrition. She was 180cm tall and weighed only 83 catties.
Howard Hughes was eventually buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.
Inheritance
Howard Hughes did not leave a will, and a large number of lawsuits occurred about his estate.
Other information
In the United States of America, Howard Hughes’s name is like Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This is not only because he is one of the few rich and famous people in the United States of America, but the people of the United States of America treat him as a hero. His life can be described as vigorous, full of adventure and excitement. He has $2.5 billion in assets, but in his later years, he lives in seclusion, unpredictable, and does not show up in public.
On December 24, 1905, Howard Hughes was born in Houston, United States of America. His father was an oil speculator. Old Hughes did not make any money in the oil business. Later, he bought a new type of drilling machine from a friend. This drilling machine has a special air-compressed rotary cone, which can penetrate hard rock formations, which is of great significance to the oil extraction industry. To this end, he obtained patents in 13 countries in the United States of America and overseas, and established the "Hughes Tool Company", which specializes in the production of this drilling machine, and obtained huge profits. Hughes was born when his father's career was developing. He was the only son.
Hughes is a lonely and shy teenager, and he hates going to school. He would rather stay at home alone, take the clock apart and reinstall it, or try to replace the bicycle with a battery into an electric car. In this regard, he has been very interested in it since he was a child. When Hughes was 16 years old, his mother died on the operating table due to an anesthesia failure during a minor operation. Two years later, the old Hughes also died of heart palsy at the age of 54. The assets he left behind are about 750,000 U.S. dollars. After the funeral, at a public hearing dealing with inheritance issues, Hughes’s relatives and friends thought that Hughes had just turned 18 and should go to college, and his property should be in the custody of his uncle Rupert until He is 21 years old. Rupert is a well-known playwright and very wealthy. He does not want to fight for inheritance, but he agrees with his relatives that Hughes does not have the ability to manage property and should go to college.
When the judge solicited Hughes's own opinion, contrary to everyone's expectations, he firmly stated that he did not want to study any more. He has always been taciturn and eloquently said: "According to my father's suicide note, half of the shares in the Hughes Company belong to my mother. This is a suicide note written by my father before my mother died. Now my mother is no longer alive. So the mother’s share should be inherited by me; the remaining half, that is, a quarter of the inheritance, also belong to me. The last quarter is shared equally by relatives and friends. I hope they agree and I will Buy all of their part. I want to own 100% of the Hughes company." The relatives were all stunned. The judge asked: "What do you use to buy their shares?" "I took a loan from the bank and used the real estate as a mortgage! I am already an adult and do not need a guardian, and can succeed my father, Hughes Tools, as the chairman of the board. Judge. Is this the case, sir?” Hughes, who was only 18 years old, obtained a bank loan four months after his father’s death. He bought the part of the inheritance inherited by his relatives and friends with cash and became the only company in Hughes. Owner.
Before the age of 20, Howard Hughes was married. The father of his young wife, Ella Rice, was the founder of Rice University. Newly married Yaner, Hughes and his wife came to Los Angeles. The young Hughes was very interested in movies, but he fell into trouble when he first stepped into the film industry. The first film he invested in was called "Playboy Hogan", which was fooled by a notorious actor, Lauf Grapps, who directed and acted by himself, and it was a complete failure. No one wanted the film. . Hughes paid a net loss of $80,000. This failure drew harsh accusations from Rupert, saying that he didn't understand movies at all. Then he introduced him to Mr. Samuel Godwin, a film connoisseur. This gentleman told Hughes that the first thing to do to make a movie is to get a good script, which is the basis for success.
Hughes accepted the advice of Mr. Godwin, and when he returned, he began to study and select the script carefully. He chose a script called "Arab Nights", which is a comedy about a severe sergeant and confused soldier on the European battlefield of World War I. This time, he found an excellent director named Melston, and used a few unknown but potential actors to act. This time, he won a big victory. After the audition, the Ripoll Theater, the No. 1 in the United States, asked for a long-term screening. This is unprecedented. "Arab Nights" won the second Oscar for Best Comedy.
Howard Hughes loves flying airplanes. Once, when he was flying a single-handed private jet hovering over the coast of Malibu, he had a whim: Wouldn't it be very popular to make a film depicting air combat? He thought of the British Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Daning in the First World War in 1918, leading seven Soppitz Camel fighter jets, taking off from the cruiser and bombing the German East Duron Air Base. It was an excellent transoceanic bombing. The British army lost only one aircraft and sank two enemy ships and two airships. Hughes decided to bring this air battle to the screen. At that time, there was no movie stunts for air combat. He planned to use real airplanes to make an air combat movie that was more exciting and spectacular than actual combat. The title was "Hell Angels."
In order to make this movie, he spent 2.1 million US dollars on aircraft usage fees alone and rented 87 aircraft, including French Spartan fighters, British SE5 fighters, Camel bombers, German Fokker fighters, and There are 135 pilots and 2,000 extras; the number of photographers accounts for almost half of the total number of Hollywood photographers. The film industry in the United States of America was shocked. This time, he still let Melston direct. During the filming process, he suddenly had a crazy idea: to film the German Zeppelin airship attacking London, to shoot down the real plane in the air. He thinks this can make the audience feel excited. His secretary Ditt Healy tried to stop this crazy move: "Is it really going to be shot down? Even if it is a medieval Zeppelin, one is not less than half a million dollars!" Hughes didn't care: "Yes. Yes, just buy that kind of airship and let it explode and burn vigorously. It’s okay, just do it.” When
shooting the dive bombing scene, he asked the pilot to rush down 30 meters above the ground and hit the ground and exploded and burned. No one in the pilot was willing to do it. Everyone knew that it would kill people. No one wants to take this risk. Hughes said: "Then I'll fly to you!" He really got on the plane, and he did not have time to jump out. When the plane dived to the ground, he suddenly turned over and went on. Just whistling and falling to the ground. "Hughes is dead!" exclaimed from the crowd.
However, perhaps it is the God of Destiny who loves this bold young man. Just when the plane was about to burn, Hughes actually climbed out of the cockpit with difficulty. His injuries were not too serious, but his cheek was broken and he was left behind. A scar.
For this film, Hughes spent two years and invested US$3 million. After the release, the attendance rate was indeed high, but the public opinion was divided. Some believed that this was an unprecedented big production; others believed that the air battle scene was indeed exciting, but the love scene of the sexy actress seemed extremely boring. . Artistically speaking, this is a failed film.
In the process of filming "Angels of Hell," Ella and Hughes divorced because her husband was only passionate about his career and gave her too little care. Since then, Hughes lived a long single life and did not remarry until after the age of 50.
There is an airfield near the California Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, and there is an isolated hangar on a corner of the airfield. There are armed guards here who are in charge of guarding, no one knows what's inside. In fact, this is a factory secretly developed by Hughes Tools. Hughes is very fascinated by airplanes. After filming "Hell Angels", he participated in a national short-haul flight competition in Miami. Hughes won the championship at a speed of 302 kilometers per hour. But he is not satisfied with such results, his goal is to break the world record. In 1927, Lin Bai, a pilot of the United States of America, flew over the Atlantic in 33 hours and 30 minutes, causing a sensation in the world and was called the "hero of the century" by the people of the United States of America. In order to break the record set by Lin Bai, Hughes began to devote himself to the development of new aircraft. He has two outstanding aircraft designers: Parma and Oticak. They named the future aircraft H1.
Otikak is a mechanical engineer who is also keen on flying. He was an actor hired by Hughes when he was filming "Hell Angels." He was later appreciated by Hughes and appointed as the chief designer. Otikak has many bold ideas for making new types of aircraft, and for Hughes, who is frantically pursuing speed, he is a rare talent. In that secret aircraft factory, they continued to improve the shape of the aircraft, using the best-performing Pratt Whitney engine with 1000 horsepower. It took 15 months to finally produce a fuselage length of 8.2. M, H1 monoplane with a wing length of 7.6 m. Because the fuselage is so short, no one knows how long it can fly in the air. No one in Hughes' company dared to fly the plane for a test flight. Hughes decided to test it himself.
On September 12, 1935, when all preparations were ready, the day was already west. The referee technician in charge of the speed test suggested to fly again tomorrow, because it is now approaching dusk and the flying backlight is dazzling. Hughes couldn't wait. He had already put on his flight suit, jumped into the cabin, and started the airplane engine. The plane took off.
The first test speed reached 556 kilometers. The referee technician told him via radio: Not this time, because it violated the rules of the Aviation Association and did not perform level flight. So Hughes circled in the air and made a second horizontal flight. "The world record, the speed has reached 566 kilometers per hour!" The referee's call came from the headset.
Hughes was so excited that he didn't land immediately, but kept flying, and wanted to set a new world record. The third flight was only 542 kilometers. He is unwilling to fly again! "567 kilometers." Another new world record!
Hughes had a smug smile on his face, but he still didn't want to stop, and flew again for the fifth and sixth...Suddenly, the engine stopped working, and he realized that the main fuel tank was out of fuel. He hurried to press the button for instant refueling, but to no avail, it was too late, and the engine had completely stopped.
Hughes planned to make an emergency landing by gliding, but he could not control the plane, and H1 was rushing towards the ground at a vertical falling speed. At this time, the sky was already dark, the members of the aviation association on the ground suddenly couldn't see Hughes's plane, and the radio lost contact. Everyone was surprised. Hughes tried his best to control the plane and made a safe landing in a beet field. When the people from the Aviation Association arrived there, they saw the plane lying there intact, and Hughes, holding a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other, was crawling out of the cabin triumphantly. He smiled all over his face: "I set a world record, didn't I?" Until now, the plane is still kept in the Smithsonian Aviation Museum in Washington.
Hughes planned the flight across the continent of the United States of America, and he made another big improvement on the H1. The updated model was completed on January 18, 1937, and he referred to it as the "winged bullet". In the afternoon, he drove this "bullet" to take off from Los Angeles Airport and began his journey of the century. The plane quickly climbed to an altitude of 6000 meters and flew eastward at an average speed of 534 kilometers per hour. At 00:42 the next morning, Hughes finally arrived safely at New York's New Walker Airport, which took 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. In the United States of America at that time, no matter what kind of aircraft, it took more than 9 hours to fly across the continent of the United States of America, and some even exceeded 10 hours. Hughes' record is unmatched by other airlines. This flight record has been maintained for 7 years.
Soon, President Franklin Roosevelt personally received Hughes. Hughes also admired the president who helped the United States of America escape from the economic panic since 1929. Franklin Roosevelt smiled and said to him: "Hughes, I was under the navy in World War I. I flew a navy plane into French airspace. This time, I really want to try yours. "Winged bullet"." "Of course!" Howard Hughes began to seriously consider how to convert the H1 aircraft into military use. Once the United States of America military uses this aircraft as a fighter jet, his aircraft company will have a large number of Production.
Later, Hughes sold an H1 that was converted to a fighter jet to the military ordering authority of the Uye base. Unfortunately, the military did not use his aircraft, but signed a contract with Lockheed for mass production of XP38 fighter jets. Many people later believed that the reason why the military did not adopt Hughes' aircraft was mainly because Lockheed's Barpunk Aircraft Factory bribed the military orderer at the Right Field Base.
Japan’s attack on the US military base in Pearl Harbor adopted a new type of zero fighter. The shape and performance of this aircraft are very similar to those of the H1; moreover, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries designed the zero fighter in 1937, and Hughes’s aircraft was used by the United States of America Army Aviation in 1937. The authorities rejected it in the same year. Therefore, most people think that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has misappropriated the design of the H1 aircraft. Of course Hughes thought so, and for this he was very indignant.
By the end of the Pacific War in 1945, Japan had produced 11,000 Zero Fighters. Compared with the Zero Fighter, Lockheed's XP38 is much inferior in light and long-range flight capabilities. While Hughes flew adventurously one after another, his oil rigs and film careers were still creating a lot of wealth for him. No one knows when he became interested in the shares of TWA in the United States of America.
By 1937, Hughes already owned 87% of the company. TWA is the third-ranked airline based in the United States of America. It has advanced Douglas DC3 aircraft that traverse the mainland of the United States of America. In order to control the routes of the entire American continent and the world, Hughes did not care about the previous suspicion. He took a fancy to a constellation aircraft produced by Lockheed, and believed that this aircraft was better than Douglas and Boeing. For this reason, he took the initiative to cooperate with Lockheed. Sid Company improved the relationship and cooperated.
Hughes did not stop his adventure flight. In order to challenge the world's one-week flight record, he selected and improved the Ilectra 14 aircraft developed by Lockheed. This is a medium-sized aircraft that can carry 12 people and is equipped with two Pratt Whitney engines. Hughes selected four crew members. On July 10, 1938, they took off from Bennett Airport in Brooklyn in a modified Ilectra 14 aircraft. Before he arrived at the airport, 5,000 people and reporters had come to see him off. Before Hughes, two pilots, a man and a woman, challenged the global flight record, but they were both killed. One was Willie Post, who crashed in Alaska shortly after takeoff; another was named Amelie Ahart, who disappeared over an island in the South Pacific.
At 6 am, Hughes appeared at the airport. He was wearing a brown woolen hat, wrinkled gray trousers with patches, and a white shirt. People were surprised by what he was wearing. Because the 1939 Universal Exposition will be held in New York, Hughes named his aircraft "1939 New York Universal Exposition". The person in charge of the expo held a grand departure ceremony for him. The Mayor of New York City attended and gave a speech. Then, a press conference was held. When the reporter asked Hughes to talk about his feelings at the moment, he took out a small piece of paper from his trouser pocket with a trembling hand, and read it along: "First of all, thank you friends from the press. Although you know you must ask me many things. , But I can only say sorry. All night last night, I was collecting weather forecasts from all over the world. All I care about is the weather." His voice was trembling, with excitement and tension.
The plane took off, and Hughes crossed the North Atlantic from Newfoundland, Canada. He spent only half of the time Lin Bai used that year, that is, 16 hours and 38 minutes to fly across the Atlantic. The first stop is landing in Paris. After taking a break in Paris, they took off again, and the next stop was Moscow. At the Moscow airport, Hughes received a warm welcome from the Soviet government. He did not accept the precious food presented by the owner. He said: "Even caviar might add a pound to the weight of the plane." 15 minutes later, the plane was filled with fuel and immediately took off. The next target is Omsk in Siberia. At every station along the way, Hughes made arrangements in advance, including setting up a ground radio station, refueling, emergency repairs, and so on.
After 3 days and 19 hours and 17 minutes of long-distance flight, Hughes' plane finally flew back to the United States of America and returned to Bennett Airport in Brooklyn, where it started. There were already 25,000 people gathered there to welcome the heroes of the century who had returned victoriously. At the welcoming party held in the City Hall of New York City, the raunchy Hughes gave a humble and brief speech: "The successful completion of this flight is entirely due to the thoughtful and meticulous preparation and the high-quality aircraft. It is by no means my own. Credit. Although the people of the United States of America invented the aircraft, it is a pity that almost all foreigners have created all the flight records. If this flight becomes a function to increase the international visibility of the United States of America’s aviation industry, that would be my greatest comfort."
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Hughes decided to use the D2 long-range bomber he developed after flying around the world to knock on the door of the military ordering authority. This aircraft combines Hughes's flying experience with design and modification experience. It can take up to six people. It is fast, high in height, and has a graceful body curve. In order to develop this kind of aircraft, he invested 6 million U.S. dollars, confident that the military will look at his aircraft with admiration this time. However, when the military delegation from the Uye base came to Hughes' aircraft factory, it was blocked by factory guards because their trip was decided temporarily and Hughes was not notified in advance. For this reason, the inspection team was very annoyed. They categorically rejected the D2 aircraft and refused to order. In the Pacific theater, after the U.S. military regained Guadalcanal Island, the seaplane was greatly used. In the multi-island South Pacific, the take-off and landing of large transport planes that transport soldiers, weapons, and materials requires an airport with an extra-long runway. The construction of the airport takes time, and the transportation task is imminent. The biggest advantage of seaplanes is that they do not require an airport. British Prime Minister Churchill advocated that the seaplane should preferably be a combination of two fuselages. Hughes thinks it is better to have a single body, he can build a giant transport plane. Hughes designed the KH1 giant seaplane with a total length of 97.5 meters and a height of 15.2 meters. The wings are equipped with 8 Pratt Whitney 2800 engines with propellers. With a weight of more than 300 tons, it is the world's largest aircraft ever, and it can be said to be a "Big Mac".
The military signed a contract with him for trial production of 3 KH1 aircraft, with a budget of 7 million U.S. dollars. However, the money was not enough to even build an aircraft. In fact, the right-field military did not take this plan seriously, and even set up numerous resistances, which caused the aircraft trial production to be put on hold repeatedly. Hughes had no choice but to invest another 7 million U.S. dollars, which was barely enough for the cost of building an airplane.
With a flick of a finger, three years have passed, and the war is finally over. Although the manufacture of KH1 is basically completed, it has no meaning to the military. The government unilaterally canceled the contract for trial production of the giant seaplane on this ground. Hughes protested to the government, but there was no result. However, he believes that this aircraft is the limit that the aircraft of the United States of America can reach. It will become the prototype of the future large passenger aircraft and cargo transport aircraft. He insisted on building this aircraft.
The plane was too big, and the body and wings had to be transported to the coast of the Long Causeway separately, and then assembled on the wharf. However, transportation has become a big problem. Think about it. The fuselage is nearly 100 meters long, and the wing alone is 48 meters long. It is 45 kilometers from the aircraft factory to the coast of the Long Causeway. Who is such a behemoth? The transportation company dare to carry? Later, a company was finally willing to take over the job, but the freight was terribly high, and the other party offered $80,000, which was the highest freight rate in the history of the United States at the time. Hughes agreed without hesitation. At that time, many people doubted whether this huge plane could fly into the sky, but Hughes used facts to tell people that their worries were unnecessary. In April 1948, Hughes personally drove the Big Mac sprinting on the sea for a while, and then took off steadily. The movie camera took this historic shot. Public opinion in the United States of America is boiling. After flying around the world, Hughes has once again become a hero in the hearts of the people of the United States of America. Before that, Hughes also built the XF11 reconnaissance plane, which was the prototype of the later U-2 reconnaissance plane. In that test flight, Hughes nearly died. When he was rescued from the crashed plane, people thought he would definitely not survive. His heart shifted, his lungs bleeds heavily, eight ribs were broken, his skull and collarbone were fractured, and his whole body was severely burned. But not only did he survive, but only half a year later, the newspaper published a picture of him sitting in the cabin with his head bandaged.
Although KH1 has only been flown once and then stored in the exhibition hall, it represents the dream of mankind to challenge the limit of flying. Now, this dream has been fully realized-Boeing jumbo jet and Lockheed C5 Ginza jet are both Come out after it. In the United States of America and the world, Hughes is a leader in the aerospace industry. In 1965, the Hughes Aircraft Company developed an 85-pound commercial communications satellite. This satellite has 6,000-line round-trip telephone functions and 12 types of color TV functions, thus opening up a television and telephone network connecting the European and American continents.
In June 1966, the unmanned spacecraft of the United States of America landed on the moon for the first time and attracted worldwide attention. The moon landing is a myth that mankind dreams of, and now it has become a reality, people can't help but ask: Who is the maker of this spaceship? No one else, it is Hughes Aircraft Manufacturing Company. Hughes has no descendants. After his death, Hughes Aircraft Company's US$5.2 billion equity was acquired by General Motors. The money goes to the Howard Hughes Medical Research Consortium, the holding consortium of Hughes Aircraft Company, which has become the world's largest consortium.
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