Howard Hughes: His Life And Madness

Howard Hughes: His Life And Madness details the birth, childhood, career, death and legacy of shimmering business tycoon Howard Hughes, who was a billionaire, world-renowned aviator, actor and industry magnate.

As part of his preparations to shoot a movie called Hell’s Angels, Howard Hughes actually learned how to fly a plane. He found so much joy in aviation, that he decided to pursue a career in it and help the field transcend what people thought was possible at the time.

It turned out that Hughes was brilliant at designing, building and then flying racing planes. He beat the world record for speed by 40 mph (coming in at 354 mph) in 1935. Next, after a re-design of the same plane, he beat the American cross-continent record with a west-to-east-coast flight in just 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds in 1937. In 1939, he even broke the previous record for the fastest trip around the world – bringing it down to 4 days from a previous 8.5.

It’s always good to keep experimenting, but you also have to know when to stop and return to what you’re good at. After 1939, Hughes tried developing military planes, a flying boat (the Hughes H-4 Hercules, nicknamed “The Spruce Goose” – with the biggest wingspan in aircraft history to date), and even helicopters – all without success.

He kept insisting on trying new things, when the world clearly wanted him to design, build and fly racing planes. Always know when to return to your circle of competence.

Hughes had always wanted to own a major airline, so he’d been buying stock of a company called Trans World Airlines, or TWA, since 1939. When a senator caught wind of the impending takeover, knowing that TWA had recently been granted approval to fly overseas, he pled with the National Defense Program to launch an investigation into the Hercules project and make Hughes the subject of a Senate hearing. Why? Senator Ralph Owen Brewster happened to be an associate of Pan American World Airways – Pan Am – a major competitor of TWA. Hughes knew Brewster had a few skeletons in his closet, so he used his connections to get several articles into the press, publicizing Brewster’s connections and potentially corrupting entanglements. On the day of the hearing, Hughes played the role of the bigger man, treating the debate like a non-issue, and even demonstrating the H-4’s capabilities during a hearing break with a short test flight. The 1,500 attendants and spectators were delighted, and the hearing was closed without pressing charges. Howard knew the system was crooked and that it was being played against him. He could’ve complained and insisted on the truth being told…