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HOWARD HUGHES' AVIATION FEATS
MEMORIALIZED BY HUGHES AIRWEST
Hughes Airwest named
its first 727 200 flagship "Spirit of Gamma" after the aircraft in
which the late Howard R. Hughes set three world speed records in 1936.
He leased a Northrop Gamma in
1935 from aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran and made extensive modifications to it.
They included installing a
new Wright GR 1820G 5 engine with a two speed supercharger for high altitude
flying, a three bladed constant speed propeller, three additional fuel tanks
and one reserve oil tank. The airframe also was streamlined.
He made seven test flights
and then waited nearly one month for proper weather conditions across the
country.
Hughes took off from Union
Air Terminal in Burbank on Jan. 13 1936 with a full load of fuel, 690
gallons. Gross weight was 9,550 pounds, 2,500 pounds more than its normal take
off weight.
He landed at Newark Airport, New
Jersey 9 hours,
26 minutes and 10 seconds later to break Roscoe Turner's transcontinental
record of 10 hours, 2 minutes and 51 seconds. Hughes' average air speed was
259.11 miles an hour.
Hughes set another record
flying the Gamma on April 21, 1936 between Miami and New York in 4 hours, 21 minutes and 32 seconds with an average
speed of 276 miles an hour. He cut 40 minutes and 7 second off the previous
record set in 1933 by James Wedell.
A third record was
established May 14, 1936 when Hughes flew the Gamma between Chicago and Burbank in 8 hours, 10
minutes and 25 seconds. The previous record was 12 hours and 45 minutes set by
a TWA DC 2 regular passenger flight.
In recognition of these
aviation achievements, Hughes was awarded the American Harmon Trophy as the
world's most outstanding aviator of 1936. It was personally presented by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He also won the International Harmon Trophy, which had
been previously awarded to Charles Lindbergh and Wiley Post.
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