Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Howard Hughes H-1 Racer Replica visited flying boat in McMinnville
Oregon Magazine ^ | October 1, 2002 | Dennis Parker

Posted on 10/14/2002 12:53:46 AM PDT by WaterDragon

30 years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight a young and successful businessman, Howard Hughes, decided to build the world's fastest land plane. The aircraft was Hughes' first design and was therefore dubbed the "H-1."

Howard Hughes had three major goals in the design of the H-1: it had to be the fastest land plane in the world, it had to have a range that would carry it from coast to coast without refueling, and it had to be a practical aircraft to fly and to operate.

Howard Hughes and his design team met each goal with stunning success...(snip)

For full article and photo, click here.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Alaska; US: California; US: Idaho; US: Nevada; US: Oregon; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: aircraft; flyingboat; h1racer; h2; hughes; record; transcontinental; wrighttools

1 posted on 10/14/2002 12:53:46 AM PDT by WaterDragon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: WaterDragon
I remember seeing the flight of the flying boat on the Movietone News in the 40s. The Spruce Goose.
2 posted on 10/14/2002 1:26:03 AM PDT by RLK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RLK
Hughs was a strange character. He was an all-around genius good at everything. Somewhere along the line he got bored with winning over every challenge and simply quit life. He spent the years remaing after that in seclusion.
3 posted on 10/14/2002 1:32:28 AM PDT by RLK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: RLK; VaBthang4; PsyOp; Gunrunner2
The spruce goose is one of the largest planes (i once saw a documentary that said it was the largest plane ...but i have seen some flying behemoths flown by Russia and Nasa ...however the documentary did say the Spruce Goose was the largest).

As for Mr Hughes i have to say he is by far stranger than fiction. That fellow surely had a knack for breaking barriers and living a life that seemed to be straight from an Ian Fleming novel!

I am sure freepers know of that CIA mission to retrieve a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine (a boomer that was part of the Soviet SLBM nuclear subs). The CIA went to Hughes, and together they told the media that Hughes was going to do some 'deep sea drilling' in a ship ....however the catch was that the 'drilling ship' was actually a multi-million dollar invention that had huge arms that could go deeper than anything had gone before at that time, and they planed to lift up the sub into a hidden area in the belly of the ship (yep, just like in a Bond flick the ship could open its bottom).

The plan was so unorthodox that the KGB (who had acquired leaks on the proposed mission) outrightly dismissed it as 'impossible' since they could not do it (i always find it strange that whenever someone says something is impossible someone else is doing it)! And the mission worked very well, even though one of the arms broke and a lot of the sub went back to the depths (that fact is still disputed though and some insiders say the whole sub was lifted not just part)!

And the info got from the captured sub helped the US get such a huge advantage over the USSR when it came to nuclear submarines that essentially the USSR offered no match whatsoever when it came to both Boomers and attack subs! None! And when the USSR found this out they went on a crazy spending spree that eventually bankrupted their coffers! Which is why some corners say it is the USN submarine service that eventually ended the Cold War by forcing the Soviets to overspend in a bid to catch up (and by the way they never did catch up). The Soviets were so worried about the US subs (especially the hunter-killers that had become so profecient at tracking Soviet boomers) that Soviet subs started to stay in their docks instead of heading out to sea (since the USN subs could hear and track them ...but the Ruskie subs could not reciprocate). And being blind to an enemy, especially when the enemy is a US hunter-killer, is simply suicidal! I would rather be in a MiG-17 facing a F-22 that to be in a Soviet boomer getting tracked by a US hunter-killer (at least in the MiG-17 i have the option of bailing out of the plane ...but in the sub the only warning i will get will be the acoustic signature of torpedoes, and by then it will be way too late to do anything but start some serious prayer).

Anyways Hughes had a large part in this, and thus did a great service to the US.

However as he aged he seemed to get weirder and weirder, until he stopped being eccentric and became simply crazy! However in his heyday he was sure the chap!

However i ahve always wondered about his business and whether it was fully legit or if it had some CIA 'assistance.'

4 posted on 10/14/2002 3:00:47 AM PDT by spetznaz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: spetznaz
I believe that you are referring to the "Glomar Explorer". There is a question as to whether the entire submarine or just a portion was fished up by the CIA.

It scared the crap out of the Soviets who assumed that the sub was too deep to recover.

Regards,

5 posted on 10/14/2002 5:04:02 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: spetznaz
I read somewhere that he began his downward spiral after he crashed one of his new planes he was test piloting, a twin engine job. The crash crushed his chest against the panel and he spent a fairly long time recovering. That near brush with death then led to his reported dread of germs and contamination. Pity, he probably had a lot more potential.
6 posted on 10/14/2002 5:27:42 AM PDT by battlecry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: battlecry
Howard was never crazy -- he had a drinking problem which he eventually overcame, after that, it was all "cover".
7 posted on 10/14/2002 7:27:59 AM PDT by TiaS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: WaterDragon
" his assistant had a tear running down her cheek as she watched the H-1 roar overhead"

Pratt&Whitney 'Twin Wasp'? I'd be crying like baby . . . .

8 posted on 10/14/2002 7:45:01 AM PDT by Crowcreek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: battlecry
Pity, he probably had a lot more potential.

--------------------------

I think he peaked out with actress Jane Russel. In The Outlaw she was, and still is, the greatesr exhibition of raw sexuality in film history.

9 posted on 10/14/2002 10:26:44 AM PDT by RLK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: WaterDragon
Great flying replica story.
Also, we might be seeing flying ME-262 (German jets) soon.
See at www.stormbirds.com
10 posted on 10/14/2002 10:53:53 AM PDT by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RLK
Fouund HH's favorite personal quote
"Every man has his price, or a guy like me couldn't exist."
11 posted on 10/14/2002 11:11:02 AM PDT by Slicksadick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: TiaS; RLK
I thought that Hughes got "wierd" after the near-fatal crash of the FX-111 in Los Angeles.
12 posted on 10/14/2002 2:41:55 PM PDT by snopercod
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: snopercod
I've always wondered why he withdrew from life. He had so much to offer still, I'm sure.
13 posted on 10/16/2002 7:09:14 PM PDT by WaterDragon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson