Howard's excellent adventure

Air Classics, Feb 2002 by O'Leary, Michael

HOW HOWARD HUGHES AND A FAITHfUL CREW SETA GLOBAL FLIGHT RECORD IN A LOCKHEED MODEL 14 SUPER ELECTRA

VINTAGE ADVERTISEMENTS COURTESY OF SCOTT BLOOM

During 1937, life was very, very good for Howard R. Hughes. He was making money, setting aviation records, creating movies, buying companies... everything seemed to be going right for the person whom has been described as "America's first billionaire." At the time, Hughes was living with actress Katharine Hepburn and they began discussing a plan that Hughes had been considering for some time - a record-shattering flight around the globe.

Some consideration was given to utilizing Hughes's Sikorsky S-43, with appropriate modifications, for the flight but in the late 1930s aviation was changing at a very, very rapid rate and more modem aircraft with much greater performance were in production.

Out in Burbank, California, Lockheed Aircraft Co. was attempting to create a new aircraft that would reap more profits than had the Models 10 and 12. Although ahead of their time, these planes were quickly eclipsed by the DC-2/-3 from crosstown rival Douglas. Lockheed always liked high performance and designers Hall Hibbard and Kelly Johnson wanted to create a new plane that would compete with the DC-2. However, cash flow was slow and work proceeded in stops and starts. In order to gain high performance, the team decided to utilize a highly-loaded wing that would have a much smaller span than the Douglas rival. In order to get needed approach and landing speeds, the wing would be fitted with Fowler flaps which safety reduced speed while also creating extra wing area when deployed. The cabin was designed to accommodate 14 passengers or 10/11 when a galley and flight attendant were installed.

Designated Model 14 and named Super Electra, construction started in early 1937 and the prototype - fitted with Pratt & Whitney Hornet SlE-G radials of 874-hp each for takeoff - made its first flight from Burbank on 29 July 1937 with Marshall Headle at the controls. Flight testing progressed smoothly but the plane would not be a commercial success. For reasons outside the scope of this article, the Model 14 simply could not compete with the DC-3.

However, the high performance of the new craft caught the attention of Hughes and he sent representatives to the factory for initial discussions. At the time, Hughes maintained hangars at nearby Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale, only a couple of miles away.

The production run of the Super Electra would be completed as airliners except for four aircraft which were designated Model 14-N. These Super Electras would be fitted with Wright Cyclone G series engines which offered a big upgrade in power - 1100-hp for takeoff and 900-hp between 6000 and 6700 feet. Three of these aircraft were outfitted as deluxe executive aircraft but the fourth aircraft was specially built for Hughes and designated Model 14-N2 with GR1820-G 102 radials.

Hughes knew that to make the flight in the fastest amount of time, he would also have to make the fewest stops possible. Accordingly, the machine would have its normal four integral wing fuel tanks supplemented by carefully designed fuel tanks to be fitted in the fuselage. These tanks would take the standard fuel load from 644 gallons to 1844 gallons. Also, there was accommodation for extra oil.

Since there were lots of new developments in avionics, the Model 14-N2 would be fitted with the latest radio and navigation equipment, Later, Hughes would comment, "The most advanced and newest equipment developed by navigators and radio engineers furnished me with such accurate information as to the position of the plane at all times that I estimate for the total trip we traveled only 20 miles more than a direct course between the various points at which we stopped."

The actual order for the Model 14-N2 was signed in midOctober 1937 after long conferences with the men most involved in the extensive

planning for the flight Hughes, of course; Al Lodwick, vice president of the Aviation Manufacturing dCorp.; W.C. Rockefeller; Glenn Odekirk; Dick Palmer; Stan Bell; Dick Stoddard; Ed Lund, and others.

Some of the special equipment Hughes already had on hand at that time while the rest of it went forward with the progress of the aircraft itself. Every emergency requirement that steering committee could conceive was listed as required performance of each element. Hughes commented, "The airplane was fast because it was the product of over 200,000 engineering hours. Young men trained mostly at the California Institute of Technology, working in a factory in California, put in 200,000 hours of concentrated thought to develop that machine."

By February 1938, Hughes had definitely decided upon the men who would go with him. Most of them were already friends. All of them were specially qualified for the tasks they would have to perform.

Edward Lund, 32, would be the flight engineer. Originally from Calispell, Montana, Lund drifted to California as a teenager. He got his first aviation job at Clover Field in Santa Monica. In the following years, he rose to the head of the metal department at the Thunderbird Airplane Company. In 1929, he became shop superintendent for Timm Airplane Company, later the Pacific Airmotive Corp. He joined Hughes in time to work on the H- racer which set the land plane speed record in September 1935 and remained with Hughes until September 1937 when he became general manager of the eastern branch of the Charles H. Babb Co. From that post, he took leave of absence for the flight.