Hughes H-1 Racer
Encyclopedia
The Hughes H-1 was a racing aircraft built by Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded in 1932 by Howard Hughes in Culver City, California as a division of Hughes Tool Company...
in 1935. It set a world airspeed record and a transcontinental speed record across the United States. The H-1 Racer was the last aircraft built by a private individual to set the world speed record; every aircraft to hold the honor since has been a military design.
Design and development
During his work on his movie Hell's AngelsHell's Angels (film)
Hell's Angels is a 1930 American war film, directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon, and James Hall. The film, which was produced by Hughes and written by Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook, centers on the combat pilots of World War I...
, Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
employed Glenn Odekirk
Glenn Odekirk
Glenn Odekirk , was an American aerospace engineer who made significant contributions to the work of Hughes Aircraft....
to maintain the fleet of over 100 aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
used in the production. The two men shared a common interest in aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
and hatched a plan to build a record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
-beating aircraft. The aircraft was given many names, but is commonly known as the H-1. It was the first aircraft model produced by the Hughes Aircraft company.
Design studies began in 1934 with an exacting, large scale model (approximately two-three ft in length) that was tested in Caltech
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
's wind tunnel, revealing a speed potential of 365 mph.
Technical details
StreamliningStreamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
was a paramount design criterion resulting in "one of the cleanest and most elegant aircraft designs ever built." Many groundbreaking technologies were developed during the construction process, including individually machined flush rivets that left the aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
skin of the aircraft completely smooth. The H-1 also had retractable landing gear to further increase the speed of the aircraft, including a fully retractable hydraulically actuated tail skid
Conventional landing gear
thumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit....
. It was fitted with a Pratt & Whitney R-1535
Pratt & Whitney R-1535
|-See also:* Pratt & Whitney Wasp series* R-985 Wasp Junior* R-1340 Wasp* R-1830 Twin Wasp* R-2800 Double Wasp* R-4360 Wasp Major-Bibliography:...
twin-row 14-cylinder radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
of 25.2 liters, which although originally rated at 700 hp (522 kW), was tuned to put out over 1,000 horsepower (750 kW).
Due to two different roles envisioned for the racing aircraft, a set of short-span wings for air racing and speed records and a set of "long" wings for cross-country racing were prepared.
Operational history
The H-1 first flew in 1935 and promptly broke the world landplane speed record with Hughes at the controls, clocking 352 mph (566 km/h) averaged over four timed passes. Hughes apparently ran the aircraft out of fuel and managed to crash-land without serious damage to either himself or the H-1. As soon as Hughes exited the H-1 when he crashed it in a beet field, his only comment was: "We can fix her, she'll go faster". At the time, the world seaplaneSeaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
speed record was 440 mph (709 km/h), set by a Macchi M.C.72
Macchi M.C.72
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Cowin, Hugh W. The Risk Takers, A Unique Pictorial Record 1908-1972: Racing & Record-setting Aircraft . London: Osprey Aviation, 1999. ISBN 1-85532-904-2....
in October 1934.
Hughes later implemented minor changes to the H-1 Racer to make it more suitable for a transcontinental speed record attempt. The most significant change was the fitting of a new, longer set of wings that gave the aircraft a lighter wing loading. On January 19, 1937, a year and a half after his previous landplane speed record in the H-1, Hughes set a new transcontinental speed record by flying non-stop from Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. He smashed his own previous record of 9 hours, 27 minutes by two hours. His average speed over the flight was 322 mph (518 km/h).
Considering the contemporary service aircraft were biplanes, Hughes fully expected the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
to embrace his aircraft's new design and make the H-1 the basis for a new generation of U.S. fighter aircraft. His efforts to "sell" the design were unsuccessful. In postwar testimony before the Senate, Hughes indicated that resistance to the innovative design was the basis for the USAAF rejection of the H-1: "I tried to sell that airplane to the Army but they turned it down because at that time the Army did not think a cantilever monoplane was proper for a pursuit ship..."
Aviation historians have posited that the H-1 Racer may have inspired later radial engine fighters such as the P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German Second World War single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
. After the war, Hughes further claimed that "it was quite apparent to everyone that the Japanese Zero fighter had been copied from the Hughes H-1 Racer." He noted both the wing planform, the tail empennage design and the general similarity of the Zero and his racer. Jiro Horikoshi
Jiro Horikoshi
was the chief engineer behind many Japanese fighters of WWII. Most notable of such was the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter.He was born near the city of Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan....
, designer of the Mitsubishi Zero strongly refuted the allegation of the Hughes H-1 influencing the design of the Japanese fighter aircraft.
The Hughes H-1 Racer is featured in the 1940 RKO Radio Pictures movie: Men Against the Sky
Men Against the Sky
Men Against the Sky is a 1940 drama starring Richard Dix and written by Nathanael West and based on a story by John Twist. Directed by Leslie Goodwins, this film deals with the dangers of flying and aircraft development in the period before World War II....
.
Markings
Over time, the H-1's wings have been marked with the registration numbers "NR258Y", "NX258Y", and finally, simply "R258Y". Several photos exist of a transitional period in which the "X" was painted directly on top of the "R". Some sources say that the color of the registration letters at the time of the record setting flights was white, with Hughes later repainting the letters to the appropriate yellow color to match the color of his company's logo.
Disposition
The original H-1 Racer was donated to the SmithsonianSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in 1975 and is on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
Replica
Jim Wright of Cottage GroveCottage Grove, Oregon
Cottage Grove is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It received its name from its first postmaster, G. C. Pierce, in September 1861. Pierce's home at the time was in an oak grove. The population was 9,686 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
built a full scale replica of the H-1 that first flew in 2002. So exact was the replica to the original that the FAA granted it serial number 2 of the model. The achievement in recreating the aircraft was heralded in virtually every well-known aviation magazine of the time. On August 4, 2003, after a successful unveiling of the replica at the 2003 AirVenture
Experimental Aircraft Association
The Experimental Aircraft Association is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception it has grown internationally with over 160,000 members and about 1,000 chapters worldwide....
at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Wright fatally crashed. On his way home to Oregon, he had landed briefly in Gillette, Wyoming, to refuel. While on the ground, Wright met briefly with local reporters and indicated that the aircraft had been having propeller "gear problems." He then departed, crashing just north of the Old Faithful Geyser
Old Faithful Geyser
Old Faithful is a cone geyser located in Wyoming, in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Old Faithful was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name...
in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
about an hour later. The replica, originally slated for use in the film The Aviator, was completely destroyed, and Wright was killed.
The official accident report points to a failure of a counterweight on the constant speed propeller
Constant speed propeller
A constant speed propeller is a type of propeller that can change its blade pitch to take better advantage of the power supplied by an engine in much the same way that a transmission in a car takes better advantage of its power source...
. On December 17, 2003, Cottage Grove State Airport
Cottage Grove State Airport
Cottage Grove State Airport or Jim Wright Field , is a public airport serving small general aviation aircraft, located one mile east of the city of Cottage Grove in Lane County, Oregon, USA....
was dedicated as Jim Wright Field.
Specifications (H-1 Racer, original wings)
External links
- Howard Hughes - Aviator, (UNLV) Library Web Site
- Wright Tools - History of the H-1
- The H-1 Racer - National Air and Space Museum Web site
- Hughes Racer
- The Silver Bullet: No airplane in the world could outshine Howard Hughes' H-1 Racer until Jim Wright built a copy of it
- Hughes H-1 Racer, many technical details and pictures (German)