the Spruce Goose took flight over Long Beach Harbor California.
This massive wooden aeroplane was airborne for about one minute during its
one and only flight with Howard Hughes, its creator, at the controls.
Howard Hughes was an aviator of some distinction and was an innovator for several
decades in this field any many others.
 |
...he made the drill bits everyone else
used to find oil. |
 |
 |
| |
 |
|
|
Howard Hughes had a ready made fortune because of the work of his father, Howard
Sr, who struck it big during the Texas oil rush. In a lesson to us all he did
not go about drilling for oil he made the drill bits everyone else used to find
oil.
The drill bits could not be bought but were leased for $30,000 per well and
formed the backbone of the Hughes Tool Company which was to gush cash seemingly
endlessly.
Hughes Sr died in 1924 leaving the company to an 18 year old orphan, Howard
Hughes.
hollywood
With no money worries H.H followed an uncle, Rupert Hughes, towards Hollywood
and having enough money set himself up as an independent producer.
 |
 |
| Chucrchman.
Kings of Speed [1939] |
|
|
His first production 'Swell Hogan' was so grim even its creator could not love
it and was never released. The second endeavour, Everybody's Acting covered
its expenses but the third worked a charm. Two Arabian Knights won an Academy
Award (best comedy director 1927-8) and fired Hughes desires for bigger and
better.
Already developing a passion for flying he decided to combine his two interests
and set about directing and producing Hells Angels.
This was all about World War One aerial combat. Doing nothing in halves he
had a private air force of 45 planes and airships created and sunk 2 million
dollars into the project.
The work went on and one and in the meanwhile The Jazz Singer was released
and 'talkies' were the thing. Hughes had to go back to the drawing board for
much of the film as he too wanted sound.
Unfortunately the original star of the movie Greta Nissen had a very strong
Norwegian accent so a new leading lady had to be found. He found one in Jean
Harlow.
Meanwhile Hughes first marriage (to Ella Rice) was just ending, costing him
a $1.25 million settlement and the stock market crashed.
Hughes seem not to notice these events, or at least not let them side-track
his movie efforts which by now included grafting on colour sequences into Hells
Angels.
Finally the film was released in 1930 costing some $4 million.
The film was a success picking up an Academy Award but it took a number of
years before it broke even.
|
...Hughes sued them eventually forcing
them to back down. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Scarface was quicker off the production line, starring Paul Muni, it was clearly
meant to be Al Capone. The board of censors was not at all pleased so Hughes
sued them eventually forcing them to back down.
aviation
He had carved out a successful and potentially very lucrative space in a growing
film industry but with the ease of a man with more money than time he shifted
gears, left the film industry and decided to concentrate on aviation.
He developed the H-1 which had fully retractable landing gear and flush fitted
rivets which helped Hughes to pilot it to a world speed record of 352 miles
per hour in September 1935.
Refitting it for a longer distance he flew from Los Angeles to Newark in 7.5
hours in Jan 1937, a record which held for 7 years till he broke it.
He then went on to fly around the world in 4 days which won him the congressional
medal and the Collier Trophy for aviation progress to add to the Harmon Trophy
awarded to the world's best aviator.
|
He was a shy man and the thought of
germs always nagged him... |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
He was a shy man and the thought of germs always nagged him, two things which
would dominate his life, to the extent they took over everything else.
Hughes steadily gained a bigger and bigger role in aviation, buying a 12% interest
in TWA.
He also returned to Hollywood in 1940 when he made 'The Outlaw' Jane Russell
as Doc Holliday's girlfriend gave the censors much to complain about and Hughes
made good publicity about the saga.
A censored film was put out in 1946.
military
Hughes was looking to help with the war effort and although his planes had
so far not been entirely successful with the war department boys he was prepared
to give it another go.
He felt aluminium was not the what ahead but rather plywood and a new method
of plywood construction was what was going to give him the edge. He teamed up
with Henry J Kaiser (the man who introduced assembly line methods to make Liberty
ships with amazing rapidity.)
|
The war department determined there
was certainly no harm in letting them have a go...
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
The war department determined there was certainly no harm in letting them have
a go and gave them $18million to build 3 flying freighters.
The plane was to have a wing span of 320 feet (still a record) and a weight
of 200 tons which was 3 times the weight of anything else up to that point.
It was too be a flying boat made of wood and so became known as the Spruce
Goose (actually plastic-impregnanted Birch but that does not make much of a
name).
Work was slow as work tended to be on a Hughes project and most of the funds
were gone before there was anything to show for it.
Not keen to keep pouring money down this drain the project was cancelled but
Hughes managed to reinstate it so just one plane was built.
seeds
of destruction
In July 1946 Hughes was test-flying another of his war projects (yes the war
was over but it did not deter Hughes), the XF-11 when he crashed, nearly killing
him. This was to leave him in almost constant pain which was controlled by larger
and larger doses of morphine, later subsisted by codeine. This and an advancing
case of syphilis and all the players are in place for the next chapter of Hughes
extraordinary life.
The war ended but still Hughes worked on until in November 1947 watched by
many a newsman it took of, flying for less than a mile at about 70 feet.
It never flew again but Hughes kept it in a hangar forevermore.
