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Howard Hughes changed the world. His high speed aircraft were prototypes for future fighter planes. He jump-started commercial aviation. With airplanes that flew higher and faster than the competition, his big dreams required new aircraft control systems, still in use today. His engineers made the first remote control missiles a reality, and made live TV possible around the globe.
Christmas Eve, 1905, Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was born. But as in much of his life, even his birthday can be questioned. There was no official birth certificate on file. What is known is that his parents fostered young Howard's interest in all things mechanical.
As a child he took everything apart, so that he could put it back together again. He took a bicycle and modified it with a motor and his mother called the local newspaper and Howard was photographed holding the first motorized bicycle in Houston.
Hughes got his pilot's licence in 1928 and bought himself a biplane. He could well afford to indulge in expensive toys. His father was the developer of a specialized oil-drilling bit, that'd made the Hughes family wealthy.
The Hughes Drill Bit revolutionized oil-drilling, and that immediately made Hughes Tool company an extremely valuable property. So Hughes, early on, saw the power that inventions can have in changing our way of life and, and in making certainly a lot of money.
Young Howard, anxious to make his mark in the world, left Houston before completing college and moved to Los Angeles to make movies. In 1930 he made a name for himself as a film director with Hell's Angels, a World War One aerial epic. He would later make the Outlaw starring Jane Russell. Hollywood legend has it that using his knowledge of aerodynamics he designed an under wire bra that helped her stand out as an actress. Apparently it was so uncomfortable she never wore it in the movie.
Hughes continued to make movies but he also turned his focus to flying and designing aircraft. By the summer of 1935, Hughes decided he wanted to set a new aircraft speed record. He hired two men to help make his dream come true.
He had a fellow, by name of Glenn Odekirk, who was working on his airplanes who became an expert mechanic and he hired a fella, by the name of Dick Palmer, who was probably one of the best airplane designers of that time.
In the capable hands of Odekirk and Parmer, Hughes' dream took shape as a plane he called the H-one.
They referred to this as an engine with a saddle on it because the cockpit was very small and there was just not much wiggle room inside. Well it was designed for high speed and that's ...that's what he got.
biplane n.
An airplane having two pairs of wings fixed at different levels, especially one above and one below the fuselage.
drill bit n.
Drill bits are the working end of drill tools. Bits are interchangeable, meaning that they can be removed from the end of the drill, either to replace a worn part or to change the size of the part.
aerodynamics n.
The dynamics of bodies moving relative to gases, especially the interaction of moving objects with the atmosphere.
wiggle room n.
Flexibility, as of options or interpretation
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