Hughes - Always the Visionary
Of particular note in the design of the H-1 were several revolutionary and key features to keep the "need for speed" criteria at the forefront. The H-1 made use of monoplane wings at a time when most aircraft (even military types) were still using biplanes with origins in a bygone era. The undercarriage's retractable nature was also a departure from conventional aircraft types then in use, many making due with static structures while others housed landing gear legs in streamlined, though fixed, fairings. The H-1 was also constructed with individually machined flush rivets which contoured perfectly with the smooth metal skin of the aircraft, making for a superior streamlined affair. All these implementations combined to produced the fastest of possible airframes.
The Power Within
Power for the H-1 was delivered from a single Pratt & Whitney R-1535 series, twin-row, 14-cylinder radial piston engine producing approximately 700 horsepower (although modified in the H-1 for an impressive output of up to 1,000 horsepower) and actuating a two-bladed metal propeller. This supplied up to listed 352 miles per hour making it one of the fastest piston engine aircraft of the time. The fuselage maintained a running length of 27 feet and a height of 8 feet. When empty, she listed at 3,565lb and a full 5,492lb when loaded.
The Records
On September 13th, 1935, the H-1's first flight (with Hughes himself at the controls) the H-1 achieved a new world speed record of 352 miles per hour, this over the skies of Santa Ana, California. Hughes took the H-1 through her paces and accomplished the record before being forced to crash land after running out of fuel. Both Hughes and the H-1 survived without any major damage with Hughes only convinced that he could make his new creation fly faster.
The transcontinental flight to follow, this from Los Angeles, California, to Newark, New Jersey, occurred on January 19th, 1937, and was covered in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. Hughes' average speed on the jaunt was an impressive 332 miles per hour. This was less than the 9 hours, 27 minutes Hughes managed in a previous transcontinental attempt.
Why Not a Military Pursuit Fighter?
The H-1 was undoubtedly an aircraft ahead of its time and if anyone knew this it was Howard Hughes. Always the businessman, he assumed interest from the United States Army Air Force was forthcoming but this came to naught. The USAAF never contracted for any evaluation H-1s and the aircraft lived on only as a racing airplane with the Hughes name. In post-war reports before the Unites States Senate, Hughes commented that the USAAF thought a cantilever monoplane not suitable for a pursuit fighter. Wartime designs such as the American Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Japanese Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" were all thought to borrow some elements of Hughes' design but each respected designer never admitted as such, some outright refuting any such claim. It is only left to the imagination what the H-1 racer could have become if transformed and utilized as a pursuit fighter.
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