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One of Howard Hughes dreams was to have these small Helicopters in every garage.
I worked at Hughes helicopters in Culver City where the Spruce Goose was built I use to like to talk to some of the old engineers and they would tell me stories of Howard.
He would show up at all hours of the night and walk the mezzanine.
It was a very cool building to work in.
http://www.tinfeathers.com/Museum/Airports/Turner/Turner.htm
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History:
Delivered to U.S. Army Air Force as 44-78772.
- BOC: Sept. 26, 1943 at Greenville Field, Mississippi.
- SOC: January 10, 1950.
- Stored, South Plains Field, Lubbock, TX, February 1946.
- Stored Pyote, TX, August 1947.
Flying Tiger Line, April. 26, 1951.
- Acquired for $13,000.
- Registered as N67996.
- Modified for passengers.
Zantrop Air Transport, July 1959-Sept. 1966.
- Registered as N614Z, April 1960.
Universal Airlines (formerly Zantop Air Transport), Sept. 1966-March 1968.
Aviation Association of Georgia, GA, March 1968.
Martin Air Leasing, 196?.
- Acquired for $25,000.
International Aerodyne, 19??.
Trans Artic Air, AK, 19??.
Ilford-Riverton Airways, Canada, Jan. 1971.
- Registered as CF-ZQX.
Fairbanks Air Service (later Great Northern Airlines) , May 1974.
- Registered as N800FA.
- Crashed while attempting to land on frozen lake, ran into shore, near Barrow, AK, May 17, 1975.
-- Suffered major damage, later repaired.
Coffee Point Fish Co, 1978-1984.
Atone Air, El Paso, TX, April 1984.
- Acquired for $65,000.
Unknown owner, Dec. 6, 1987.
Siezed by U.S. Government for gun-smuggling.
U.S. Marshall's Office, Miami, FL, 198?-1988.
- Stored, Homestead Air Force Base, FL.
National Air & Space Museum, Washington D.C., Aigust 31, 1988-2003.
- Loaned to National Warplane Museum, NY, 19??-2001.
- Loaned to Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, NY , circa 2001-2003.
Total Hours: 30,487 hours over 44 year 11 month career.
Turns out a fan blade was the root cause of this crash and the Captain did a miraculous job of getting to an airport and there were survivors.
https://youtu.be/yIl-lKy6aV0
In 1907 he set a land speed record of 136.36 at Ormond beach in Florida on a motorcycle he stuck a V-8 aviation motor in. He's the only man to hold the land speed record on a motorcycle. He held the record until a car beat it in 1911. A motorcycle never broke the record until 1930. It's worth doing some research on him if you are into aviation or motorcycle history.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/motorcycles/ej-potter-the-michigan-madman/
Wife and I visited Pima Air/Space Museum last October.
So many cool birds.
Regarding Curtiss, if he was as good at propoganda and press like the Wright brothers were, he'd likely be credited with the first flight. Being super local, there's lots of anecdotal stories that he actually flew first, almost in the exact spot that Commando sits today. It was supposed to be a test flight in the fall and then after the winter a flight in front of the press and spectators. Wright brothers got wind of it and beat him to the punch, since they didn't have to deal with winter.
Curtiss actually had what we consider a plane today. He invented modern flight controls. The Wright brothers had a powered warped wing glider that needed assistance to take off and had very little control once in the air. Wright brothers tried to sue him over patents and if it wasn't for Henry Ford backing Curtiss in the lawsuits the world could be a much different place.
Without his planes/engines in WWII things may not have turned out how did. Wright brothers were actually arrogant asses that only wanted to get rich.
I just now watched that, really cool!
Can you imagine the maintenance on that plane after a Salt Water landing?
Pit Row
Some of the birds I worked on in my Career. After the Air Force, 77-81, Cannon AFB, F-111D models. Yes, we had successful ejections.
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