Can I just say...In his infinite and wonderful madness, he was good (enough) at doing many things. Trying to narrow Howard Hughes's life down to his pilot skills is limiting. Love him, hate him, but he accomplished in a lifetime, in many areas of life, more than most of us can accomplish in 10 lifetimes. I proudly own a drill bit from his dad's company, just as a reminder of what a (rich) kid could accomplish in every state, including the ones that initially treated him like a redneck from Texas. I am referring to Hollywood's elite of the time. today Howard Hughes would be cured of his madness, but perhaps he would also not be the Howard Hughes that made history. Crazy, rich, daredevil, and utterly brilliant, what more can you ask? The best we have these days is Elon Musk, but I am not sure how he compares. A very good percentage of Musk's announcements are pure fantasy, and his timelines are more than often comical, yet his following is a testament that we need more Howard Hughes and more Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk. Most others are just uninspiring and utterly boring.