Capt Yeager meets Howard Hughes

General Yeager in his own words: “I read this today:

Howard Hughes, aviator, circa 1947

‘Sept 13, 1935 – Aviator Howard Hughes, Jr., of Houston, set a new airspeed record of 352 mph with his H-1 airplane (Winged Bullet).’ 

Hughes helped design and flew the Spruce Goose. Once. November 2, 1947.

History re that is here: The Largest Flying Boat Ever Built Flew for Only 26 Seconds (warhistoryonline.com)

Capt Chuck Yeager standing next to X-1 after breaking sound barrier

“I met Howard Hughes after I broke the sound barrier (October 14, 1947). He wanted to know more about it to design more airplanes. I liked him; interesting guy.

“Some say he was crazy. He wasn’t. The same thing happened to him as happened to us at Edwards AFB, CA.

“At Edwards, the press would ask for a comment or interview re a black program. We’d decline. So the media would make up all sorts of nonsense to try to get us to speak to them and rebut the nonsense.

“The bait didn’t work for us at Edwards.

“Or for Howard apparently.”

c. GCYI