Materials depict the celebrations of Howard Hughes's circumnavigation flight in 1938. Along with a crew consisting of Harry Connor, Tom Thurlow, Richard Stoddart, and Ed Lund, Hughes flew the Super Electra on a global circumnavigation flight. On July 10, 1938, Hughes and the crew departed Floyd Bennett Field in New York and flew to Paris, France, Moscow, Russia, Omsk, Russia, Yakutsk, Russia, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Minneapolis, Minnesota before landing back in New York on July 14. The photographs primarily depict the parades thrown for Hughes after completion of the flight. The photographs also depict Hughes and his crew meeting with New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at New York City Hall, the National Press Association, and crowds of onlookers who attended the plane's landings in various cities.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Public Relations Photograph Collection
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: PH-00373 Collection Name: Howard Hughes Public Relations Photograph Collection Box/Folder: N/A
Along with the information is this card entitled "Record Breaker." It reads: "First product of Hughes Aircraft Company was Howard Hughes' uniquely designed H-1. Experts said it was farther ahead of its time than any plane built since the Wright brothers'. In 1935 Hughes flew the H-1 to a world's land plane speed record of 352 mph, many years before any military pursuit planes attained this speed, and in 1937 Hughes flew the H-1 from Los Angeles to New York in seven hours, 28 minutes, a record which stood for eight years. The H-1 was the first plane with a smooth metal surface, leading edge air duct intakes, jet thrust exhaust, bell-shaped cowling, drooping ailerons, and the first to have a power-driven retractable landing gear. -0- "