Hughes H-1 Racer replica speed record attempt (1 Viewer)

[chris mcmillin]

It was stored in Culver City at Hughes Field from 1936 to 1975.
It is a flush riveted, butt jointed fuselage and tail.

Chris...

 

[MrSmoothie]

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.

 

[SaparotRob]

That was an expletive deleted great post!

 

[Wurger]

 

[_PabloSniper_]

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.

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Finally, someone who has the same admiration that I have for this plane.
If I were as rich as Hughes is today, I would build an H-1 with a Pratt & Whitney R-1830, a three-blade propeller, and two .50s on the hood.
Just to prove my theory that it would have been much better than a P-35 / P-36 / Northrop 3a Fighter prototype

 

[Aeroweanie]

There is a non-flying replica of the H-1 in the Santa Maria Museum of Flight. It was used in the filming of the movie "The Aviator".

 

[_PabloSniper_]

Do you know what effects the wings had on the maximum speed?

Absolutely nothing happened, because as you can read in this report, its wings could withstand up to 600 MP/h

 

[Zipper730]

When they say a safety factor of 5, do they mean 5g or 5 times the normal rated load-factor? Normally I'd assume the latter but I don't know.

 

[Aeroweanie]

When they say a safety factor of 5, do they mean 5g or 5 times the normal rated load-factor? Normally I'd assume the latter but I don't know.

The literal meaning is that loads were multiplied by 5, rather than the more common 1.5. However, I think the writer got mixed up and means that the aircraft is designed to 5gs, probably limit, rather than ultimate (which is limit*1.5).

 

[Wurger]

IIRC the safety factor is a number that determines how much the load or maximum stress can exceed the material's allowable load or stress before failure occurs. In other words, it is a measure of design redundancy that shows how many times a structure or element can withstand more than its expected maximum load. For example, if the safety factor is 2, it means that the structure is designed to withstand twice the maximum load that should theoretically occur under normal operating conditions. The value of the safety factor is selected depending on many factors, including the type of structure, type of loads, uncertainties related to materials and operating conditions.