Kuriosa
FAKTA:
Howard Hughes levde mellan 1905-1976 och var bl.a. pilot, filmproducent, industridirektör, playboy, filantrop och en av världens rikaste män. När Hughes bodde i Las Vegas köpte han ett hotell enbart för att han störde sig på hotellets neonskylt. Hughes köpte också en TV-station eftersom han tyckte att det aldrig var något bra på TV om natten.
OLYCKA:
1930 producerade Hughes storfilmen Hells Angels, som med en budget på 4 miljoner dollar blev den dyraste filmen någonsin. Under produktionen av Hells Angels, en film om brittiska piloter under andra världskriget, omkom tre piloter när planen störtade. Även Hughes störtade och måste släpas medvetslös ur planet.
REKORD:
Under åren 1935-1938 hade Hughes nästan alla världsrekord i luften: snabbast tid tvärs över USA, snabbast tid över Atlanten och snabbast tid jorden runt. Hughes byggde världens största transportflyg till den amerikanska armén. 1947 lyfte det för första och sista gången ? med Hughes själv bakom ratten
HANDIKAPP: Genom hela sitt liv försökte Hughes att dölja att han nästan var döv.
BIOGRAFI:
Howard Robard Hughes (December 24, 1905?April 5, 1976) was at times a pilot, a movie producer, a playboy, an eccentric, a recluse, and one of the wealthiest people in the world.Hughes was born in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, he declared that his goals in life were to become the world's best golfer, the world's best pilot, and the world's best movie producer. In 1923 he inherited the highly profitable Hughes Tool Company from his father, Howard R. Hughes, Sr., who invented the diamond-studded drill bit for oil wells. In aviation, Hughes set many world records, and designed and built aircraft for as well as heading Hughes Aircraft (merged with Raytheon in 1998).In 1938, the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, known at the time as the Houston Municipal Airport, was named after him as "Howard Hughes Airport", but the name was changed back since people opposed naming the airport after someone alive at the time. One of his greatest endeavors was the Spruce Goose, a massive flying boat completed just after the end of World War II. The Spruce Goose only flew once (with Hughes at the controls) in 1947. Because the U.S. Government denied him the use of metal, Hughes built the entire plane from wood (the plane was constructed of birch rather than spruce) to fulfill his contract. The plane was on display alongside the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California for many years before being moved to McMinnville, Oregon.On January 19, 1937 Hughes set a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. Then on July 10, 1938 he set another new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world. His best-known film may be The Outlaw starring Jane Russell, for whom he designed the first cantilevered push-up bra. He also wooed many of Hollywood's most famous actresses, including Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Jane Russell. As a producer his films The Racket in 1928, and The Front Page in 1931 were nominated for Oscars. (Wikipedia)