The Aviator and His Planes. At the age of 26, he abandoned his successful career as a film producer and focused on his second passion, aviation. Hughes purchased his first plane in 1932, and with the help of some of his engineers, he increased the performance of his plane. This earned him first place in his class. The expense of his love of building his flying machines became a problem. He then created the Hughes Aircraft Company in Clover City, California. The company he later created became the leading defense contracting company in the United States. In September 1935, Hughes created a flying machine called the H-1. It went on to set the land plane speed record of 352 mph (566 km/h) during its test run near Santa Ana, California. With Hughes keeping all of his designs and projects secret, this new construction caused a public sensation. Once people heard and saw the H1, they called it "the silver bullet." Although Howard called her "My beautiful little thing." With all the excitement, Howard went to check his fuel levels on the H1 and had to crash land that plane. Flying the same H-1 equipped with newly designed and longer wings; Hughes set a new transcontinental speed record by flying non-stop from Los Angeles to Newark in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. This beats his previous record of 9 hours and 27 minutes with his average ground speed during flight of 322 mph (518 km/h). The H-1 had a number of design innovations: it had retractable landing gear and all rivets and joints recessed into the body of the aircraft to reduce drag. The H-1 is believed to have influenced the design of a number of World War II fighters, such as the Mitsubishi Zero, flown by Japan. The H-1 was given to the Smiths... middle of paper ... in 1976, he was en route from his home in Mexico to Houston, Texas when he died. His body was examined and, according to reports, he appeared unrecognizable, as his beard, nails and hair were very long. Additionally, being six foot one, he only weighed 90 pounds, which I am sure did not help his health at the time of his death. After the medical examination, it was stated that a kidney stone had caused kidney failure. He left behind a great legacy and brought many aviation products that we still use today. Hughes was also known to be a philosopher, so I'll leave with one of his quotes that summed up his life pretty well. “I'm a perfectionist by nature and have a hard time letting things go half-perfect. So if I made a mistake, it was by working too hard and doing too much with my own hands. Howard Hughes.