HOWARD HUGHES Developer of successful military, civil helicopters.


A teenage pilot from Texas who inherited an oil-drilling fortune, Howard Hughes Jr. became a billionaire with a wide-ranging business empire including aerospace companies that fielded cutting-edge technologies in fixed-wing aircraft, avionics, missiles, radar, satellites, deep- space exploration—and helicopters. Born in Houston on Christmas Eve


1905, Hughes was flying by the age of 14, quickly gaining a reputation as a skilled pilot. His father, Howard Hughes Sr., had developed a rotary bit for drilling oil wells, making a fortune in the process. After his father’s death in 1924, Hughes, at age 19, took over Hughes Tool Co. In 1932, Hughes founded Hughes Aircraft Co. as a division of Hughes Tool, and the company became a


major aerospace and defense contractor. An avid pilot, Hughes set numerous speed records during the 1930s and garnered many awards, including a US Congressional Gold Medal “for advancing the science of aviation.” During World War II, Hughes


developed several military airplanes. Most failed. He then shifted his attention to rotorcraft. In 1948, he bought Kellett Autogiro Corp.’s XH-17 design. Flown in


October 1952, the world’s largest helicopter at the time was designed to carry 10,284 lb. 30 miles, but the military wasn’t interested. Tree years later, Hughes merged his companies to


form Hughes Tool Co. Aircraft Division to focus on light helicopters. Its first product, the two-seat, piston-engine Model 269 received FAA certification in 1959 and was delivered to commercial operators starting in late 1961. Te Model 269 achieved great success in civil helicopter markets, as did the three-seat Model 300. Beginning in 1964, a modified version of the


Hughes 269 would become the US Army’s primary trainer as the TH-55 Osage. By 1988, the TH-55 had helped train more than 60,000 US Army aviators. Hughes’s company also developed the egg-shaped


Model 369, which won a 1965 US Army contract for a light observation helicopter and was produced for the military as the OH-6 Cayuse. Te success of the Cayuse led to the production of its civil variant, the Hughes 500. Hughes died on Apr. 5, 1976, but his legacy in


rotorcraft survives. Tat same year, the US Army selected the Hughes Tool Co. Aircraft Division (later Hughes Helicopters) Model 77/YAH-64 as its new attack helicopter. Te aircraft that became the AH-64 Apache remains a pillar of US Army aviation. Hughes Helicopter was bought by McDonnell


Boeing AH-64D Apache | Boeing Photo


Douglas in 1984, later merging with Boeing, which still produces the Apache. Versions of the Hughes 500 series are now produced by MD Helicopters.


SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE ROTOR 143


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