aircraft and near-fatal crash
Not only did Hughes design aircraft and sell his designs, making him one of the richest men in the world, but he was also a pilot, himself. In July of 1938, Hughes set a world record for flying around the world in only 91 hours (three days, nineteen hours). This record beat the previously set record by four hours.
The Hughes D-2 and XF-11
D-2 (1939): bomber, five crew members, 42-cylinder Wright R-2160 Tornado engines.
Xf-11 (1944): All-metal, two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, two Pratt & Whitney R-4360-31 engines.
Near-Fatal Crash, XF-11 (1946): Hughes was test flying his newly designed XF-11, trying to discover its maximum speed. He was flying it over Los Angeles when an oil leak sprang, causing one of the propellers to reverse its pitch, and this caused the aircraft to fly out of control. Hughes tried to perform an emergency landing at a country club, but the craft dropped sharply into a Beverley Hills neighborhood. After the craft came to a stop, the fuel tanks exploded. This set fire to the aircraft and a nearby home. Hughes miraculously pulled himself out of the aircraft and was rescued by a Marine Master Sergeant named William L. Durkin. Hughes's collar bone was crushed, he had many cracked ribs, and his left lung had collapsed, shifting his heart into the right side of his chest cavity.
The Hughes D-2 and XF-11
D-2 (1939): bomber, five crew members, 42-cylinder Wright R-2160 Tornado engines.
Xf-11 (1944): All-metal, two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, two Pratt & Whitney R-4360-31 engines.
Near-Fatal Crash, XF-11 (1946): Hughes was test flying his newly designed XF-11, trying to discover its maximum speed. He was flying it over Los Angeles when an oil leak sprang, causing one of the propellers to reverse its pitch, and this caused the aircraft to fly out of control. Hughes tried to perform an emergency landing at a country club, but the craft dropped sharply into a Beverley Hills neighborhood. After the craft came to a stop, the fuel tanks exploded. This set fire to the aircraft and a nearby home. Hughes miraculously pulled himself out of the aircraft and was rescued by a Marine Master Sergeant named William L. Durkin. Hughes's collar bone was crushed, he had many cracked ribs, and his left lung had collapsed, shifting his heart into the right side of his chest cavity.