The movie "Aviator"

[tom d. friedman]

forgot about the h1 canopy on / off scene. kind of reminecent of midway movie..... now you see it now you don't

[tom d. friedman]

an interesting little wrinkle..... in 1979 when i started college at ohio state, i went through the fraternity rush system. a guy from my home town sponsored me to join his frat. he was a legacy, which means his dad was in the same frat house years before, specifically the late 1940's or early 50's. while at ohio state his dad dated future hollywood actress jean peters for a time who later married howard hughes in the late 50's & remained married to him till 1971 when hughes divorced her. when my friend's dad dated her at osu she was voted homecoming queen, or something of the like. it was a rather dysfunctional marriage & she rarely saw him, or not at all for years at a stretch. it was more a marriage of convienence, as hughes's staff was going to declare him mentally incompetent to handle his finances & the running of his empire. by marrying jean peters, his empire could not be controlled by his top staff nor could he relinquish rights of operation to them through corporate manipulation. hughes was a wack job to the day he died, but was still a savvy businessman despite the dope & schizophrenia.his eating habits & hygiene were deplorable. would not bathe or brush his teeth months at a stretch. shave & haircut roughly once a year. in his later years his meals consisted of campbell's soup, tv dinners or chicken, & lots of desserts. he would eat a single meal over the course of a day, or days!! takeing a bite here & their leave the food sitting, uncovered & cold take another bite, etc. strange for the king of germophobes!!

[Juke]

I think DiCaprio was quite arrogant in the female company. Was Hughes really like that ?

[tom d. friedman]

regarding his romances & business relationships..... hughes was the ultimate manipulator. he was unfeeling, & unemotional of who he screwed whether in business or in love. 1 exception, he treated katherine hepburn best of all & truly loved her, but alas he fooled around on her too countless times. he he later became very stingy too, around 1954, when he was last seen publically seen to the day he died. his money & power was the premier crowbar in his life.

[krlang]

Hey,
I didnt read back in the post to see if this was already discussed but:
Did I see a Connie model on Juan's desk long before it was presented to Mr. Hughes? I looked for it later in the movie and couldnt see it well enough, but I thought I saw in early on.

Also,
Since when does any size flying boat have both floats in the water during a high speed taxi and takeoff?

Just nit picking, Good movie

[tom d. friedman]

yes you did. it was a chromed model i believe. kind of art deco looking. best, tom

[turbo_NZ]

Hiya,

I just saw the movie the other night (only just been released here in NZ) and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I overlooked the disappearing H-1 canopy and also the “high-flying” Spruce Goose.

What I did notice is that the H-1 models and CGI were short wing versions and the late Jim Wright’s beautiful replica was a long wing version.
Hughes made 2 different wings for the H-1 – 25 ft and 32 ft.


TNZ
PS Juan Trippes chrome model looks like the Connie prototype…but could be mistaken.
Didn’t look like a 314.

[tom d. friedman]

that chromed desk model can be bought from many aviation decor / collectable companies. probably made of cheap pot metal, but asthetically very nice looking...... just don't bump into it & knock it on the floor as it will be an unsurvivable crash landing!!!

[RareBear]

Tom,

Re you question about the largest aircraft:

Spruce Goose:
span - 320 feet
length - 219 feet
height - 79 feet
max TOW - 300,000 lbs

AN-225:
span - 290 feet
length - 273 feet
height - 59 feet
Max TOW - 1,320,000 lbs

Airbus A-380
span - 261 feet
length - 293 feet
height - 79 feet
Max TOW - 1,208,000 lbs

Which is biggest? Depends on what criteria you're using.

Walt

[turbo_NZ]

Theoretically, one of the A380's turbofans would be more than all of the hp of the Spruce Goose's 8 radials combined....

TNZ

[tom d. friedman]

interesting statistics!! many thanks, tom

[turbo_NZ]

Question for you,

Is the wing-span on a swept wing aircraft measured from wing root to wing tip X 2 (ie on the wing-sweep chord), or from wing-tip directly to wing-tip (perpendicular to the fuselage) ?

I know it may be a dumb question but always wondered.

Cheers
TNZ

[tom d. friedman]

you may think it's a dumb question, but it's not, because this dummy has no clue to the answer!! best, tom

[Don Martin]

Wing tip to wing tip. Other wise the hanger doors would be way to big .

[turbo_NZ]

That makes perfect sense when you put it like that !!!

Thanks Don