The aviator and his planes. At the age of 26 he abandoned his successful career as a film producer and concentrated on his second passion, aviation. Hughes bought his first airplane in 1932 and with the help of some of his engineers increased the performance of his plane. This earned him first place in his class. Expenses for his love of building his flying machines became a problem. He then created the Hughes Aircraft Company in Clover City, California. The company he founded later became the largest defense contracting company in the United States. In September 1935, Hughes created a flying machine called the H-1. It went on to set the aircraft speed record of 352 mph (566 km/h) during its test run near Santa Ana, California. With Hughes keeping all his plans and plans a secret, this new construction caused quite a stir among the public. Once people heard and saw the H1, they called it "The Silver Bullet". Even though Howard called her "My little wonderful thing." With all the excitement Howard showed up to check the fuel levels on the H1 and had to land that plane. Flying the H-1 itself was equipped with longer, newly designed wings; Hughes set a new transcontinental speed record by flying nonstop from Los Angeles to Newark in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds. This beats his previous record of 9 hours and 27 minutes with an average ground speed during the flight of 322 mph (518 km/h). The H-1 had a number of design innovations: it had retractable landing gear and all rivets and joints placed flush into the body of the aircraft to reduce drag. The H-1 is thought to have influenced the design of numerous World War II fighters such as the Mitsubishi Zero, flown by Japan. The H-1 was donated to the Smiths... middle of paper... in 1976 it was on its way from its home in Mexico to Houston, Texas when it died. His body was examined and from the reports he appeared unrecognizable, because his beard, nails and hair were very long. Also, at six foot one he only weighed 90 pounds, which I'm sure this didn't help his health situation at the time of his death. After the medical examination he was told that a kidney stone caused the kidney failure. He left a great legacy and brought with him many of the aviation products we still use today. Hughes was also known for being a philosopher, so I'll start with one of his quotes that pretty much sums up his life. “I am by nature a perfectionist and I seem to have difficulty allowing anything to happen in a semi-perfect condition. So if I made a mistake, it was working too much and doing too much with my hands." Howard Hughes.
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