OK Cynthia Here is a Sample Old Man Story

My avitar is a picture of my father and me. The year 1929. My father was the pilot. It was my first airplane ride (big surprise at age 4). You have to remember that in 1929 flying was pretty much limited to dare devils and lunitics. Somewhere along the line here, a few posts ago, I realized that I might have been the first 4 year old to have flown in an airplane.

The above was just to let you know that I had a father who enjoyed flying.

Many years lated dad got the hots for an airplane called the Howard. It was a low wing, aluminum, bomb. This was not a kiddies toy. Well we went down to Burbank (Calif. for those who don't know where that is) to look at the Howard. Dad and I were looking at the plane, just outside of a hugh, gucky green hanger. The door was two or three stories tall and was open about three feet.

A gentleman came out through the door. I was immediately impressed by the fact that he was wearing a three piece suit, just like my dad. He wore a Stetson hat, just like my dad. He asked if dad was interested in the plane and he said, "The plane is named the Howard, after me."---Howard Hughes that is.

Well we knew that. I mean we saw pictures of Howard in the "Fox Movietone News" every week between the "A" movie and the "B" movie.

To cut to the chase Howard took dad up for a demo (sales pitch) ride. When they came back I was my usual obnoxious 16 year old self and I wanted a ride too. Well Howard took me up for a demo ride also AND he let me fly it for about fifteen-minutes.

And that is how I took Howard Hughes flying.

Years later, in the press, people read all of the wierd things that the world's richest (or so it seemed) man did. But I remembered him as a neat guy, very much like my father, who took time out of his day to take a kid flying.

THANKS HOWARD! I hope you are in a wonderful place.

Enjoy Jim

Cynthia, see what happens when you get an 86 year old guy to tell you an old man story. And just think, there are more where that came from.
 
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Nice story Jim.

I live in Westchester, very close to the location of the spruce goose hangar. When I tell people about it, they just stare at me. Most people, particularly young ones don't have a clue who he was.
 
Great story! :thumb: My dad and his brother were Barnstormers in South Dakota, they always had great stories about crashing and then have to buy up all the linen in four countys to repair the bi-plane, it was a Standard. My Mom had a different point of view about spending all the money for the repairs.

The Spruce Goose is here in Oregon about 30 miles from my house at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum now and some thing else that is amazing is the building that it resides in, it hugh.
 
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Nice story Jim.

I live in Westchester, very close to the location of the spruce goose hangar. When I tell people about it, they just stare at me. Most people, particularly young ones don't have a clue who he was.

I know who he was... he owned TWA until the board kicked him out... he may have begun developing is phobias and eccentricities by the time I worked for TWA in the '60's.... stories were that he would show up plane side or at the aircraft gate with a party, everyone would board the plane and he would tell the pilot, lets go to Paris..... the pilot would say "this plane is supposed to go to Chicago or where ever.... HH would say, nope I'm taking this plane to Paris or where ever he wanted to continue his party... helluva a way to run an airlines..:dunno: ... about 1965 or 66 the board of directors took any and all control away from him... He was an innovator though... some where in there, TWA became the first airlines to become an all jet airlines.. when they started shutting down the Constellations... when I worked there all passenger planes were either Boeing's or Convair's .. which I hated to have to load... they sat too high to enter from the ground, the cargo compartment was too low inside, and the doors were dangerous to open since they had a pointed latch that stuck straight down and more than one ramp service person got poked in the head or eye when a door hydraulic failed... but as a passenger plane, they were faster than the Boeing's.
Still all in all, HH still did more for the airlines than any one else.
 
Great story! :thumb: My dad and his brother were Barnstormers in South Dakota, they always had great stories about crashing and then have to buy up all the linen in four countys to repair the bi-plane, it was a Standard. My Mom had a different point of view about spending all the money for the repairs.

The Spruce Goose is here in Oregon about 30 miles from my house at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum now and some thing else that is amazing is the building that it resides in, it hugh.

Jim, Dad's airplane was an Eaglerock. And as you say---fabric covered bi-plane. I still have the owner's manual and the goggles dad was wearing---The leather helmet passed away years ago from neglect by son. Now, I am so sorry I let that happen.

The complete manual for the airplane, including learning to fly instructions, engine repair, replacing the fabric, is less than a quarter of an inch thick.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
Jim, I read your story to my wife and she loved it. I know she'll get a kick out of the Marlene Dietrich story. :thumb:

And I like the way you implied that Cynthia is young enough to not know who Marlene Dietrich is. ;) Crafty like a fox, you are. :p
 
Jim, what a great story. Hughes accomplished some incredible things. So sad that he declined into mental illness. One of his lasting gifts to humanity is the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that still does good work.

Thank you thank you for the telling.

Leo DiCaprio starred in The Aviator about HH, don't know how well it keeps to the truth, but it's a good movie.
 
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