Materials contain photographs of the Hughes H-1 Racer aircraft from 1935 to 1945. The photographs primarily depict Howard Hughes standing with the plane or in the plane's cockpit. The plane was designed by Glenn Odekirk and built by Hughes Aircraft Company in 1935, the first plane produced by the company. Hughes broke several records in the H-1, including the landplane speed record in 1935. In 1937, Hughes broke his own transcontinental speed record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York in 7 hours, 28 minutes. Despite its speed, Hughes was unable to sell the H-1 to the U.S. military.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Professional and Aeronautical Photographs
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Collection Number: PH-00321 Collection Name: Howard Hughes Professional and Aeronautical Photographs Box/Folder: N/A
Howard Hughes talking with an engineer at the rear of the flight deck of Hughes Flying Boat at Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor (now known as Long Beach).
The black and white, overhead view of Howard Hughes and his crew after completing his Around the World flight at Floyd Bennett Airport, New York. Description printed on photograph's accompanying sheet of paper: "On hand to welcome Hughes and his gallant crew New York City-- Looking down on a segment of the huge crowd that gathered at Floyd Bennett Field, July 14th, to greet the arrival of Howard Hughes and his picked crew of four at the end of their record-smashing flight around the world. The tops of the cars jamming the parking spaces were used as coigns of vantage. Credit Line (ACME) 7/14/38 (SS)"