chris mcmillin
Airman
It was stored in Culver City at Hughes Field from 1936 to 1975.
It is a flush riveted, butt jointed fuselage and tail.
Chris...
It is a flush riveted, butt jointed fuselage and tail.
Chris...
Last edited:
Hughes H-1 Racer replica speed record attempt
- Thread starter wuzak
- Start date
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MrSmoothie
Airman
- 66
- Jan 21, 2019
I have just completed a 61" RC scale model of the H1 Racer, and have obsessively immersed myself in any available history of the aircraft for the last five months. I've been surprised that (as far as I can tell) nobody has written a devoted book about the aircraft (by comparison, I have two books on the Blohm Voss BV141!). I've collected every old magazine article I can find, and researched digital editions of books. Some of what I know:
After Hughes flew from California to NJ and set the trans-con record, the H1 sat in a hangar for nearly two years! Finally it was flown back to California by Allen Russell, who was the personal pilot for Randolph Hearst. Russel was given a specific order by Hughes -- don't break his record flying back to California. The record wasn't broken until after the war, with a P-51 Mustang, which is saying something.
Here's info on Russell, who evidently had a quite a career in aviation: The ALLEN GEORGE RUSSELL Page of the Clover Field Register Web Site
Apparently Hughes sold the plane, but then bought it back to use in a movie Hughes made called "Men Against the Sky". I purchased a DVD of this movie, just to see the Racer footage. It is my opinion that footage was shot for the movie, and not stock footage -- both ground handling as well as the flying scenes. Paul Mantz was "technical consultant" for the movie, but he had a Hughes connection (he was a timer for the speed record), and my belief is that he flew the H1 for the movie. Interestingly, Mantz was the guy who finally broke the H1's transcontinental record -- in 1947 and in a P-51 Mustang!
As for the H1 languishing in a NJ hangar until going to the NASM, that's simply not true. It was in a Hughes hangar, and "restored" before being carefully crated and shipped. You can find and read Walt Boyne's excellent account of the H1's shipping and setup in the NASM in the Sept. 1977 issue of AIRPOWER. If you don't believe Boyne, I'm not sure what to say.
There is so much incomplete or contradictory information on the H1, and I think that's partly because so many sources merely parrot one of the other sources. I sure hope a really good aviation writer someday gives this aircraft its due, surely one of the most significant of the 20th century.
After Hughes flew from California to NJ and set the trans-con record, the H1 sat in a hangar for nearly two years! Finally it was flown back to California by Allen Russell, who was the personal pilot for Randolph Hearst. Russel was given a specific order by Hughes -- don't break his record flying back to California. The record wasn't broken until after the war, with a P-51 Mustang, which is saying something.
Here's info on Russell, who evidently had a quite a career in aviation: The ALLEN GEORGE RUSSELL Page of the Clover Field Register Web Site
Apparently Hughes sold the plane, but then bought it back to use in a movie Hughes made called "Men Against the Sky". I purchased a DVD of this movie, just to see the Racer footage. It is my opinion that footage was shot for the movie, and not stock footage -- both ground handling as well as the flying scenes. Paul Mantz was "technical consultant" for the movie, but he had a Hughes connection (he was a timer for the speed record), and my belief is that he flew the H1 for the movie. Interestingly, Mantz was the guy who finally broke the H1's transcontinental record -- in 1947 and in a P-51 Mustang!
As for the H1 languishing in a NJ hangar until going to the NASM, that's simply not true. It was in a Hughes hangar, and "restored" before being carefully crated and shipped. You can find and read Walt Boyne's excellent account of the H1's shipping and setup in the NASM in the Sept. 1977 issue of AIRPOWER. If you don't believe Boyne, I'm not sure what to say.
There is so much incomplete or contradictory information on the H1, and I think that's partly because so many sources merely parrot one of the other sources. I sure hope a really good aviation writer someday gives this aircraft its due, surely one of the most significant of the 20th century.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
That was an expletive deleted great post!
