Southern California. Blue skies...
- ... a warm sun...
- Twenty-five miles per hour.
- And a relatively calm sea...
- Thirty.
Thirty-five.
One would think these eight power plants
might shake the craft to pieces...
Take it easy, Howard.
- Forty!
- Throttling back for starboard turn 180.
Throttling back for starboard turn 180.
The flight crew itself
consists of four men.
Mr. Hughes, however, has added 11
maintenance men to this maiden taxi test...
... stationed at various places throughout the
ship, checking points of stress and strain.
How does she sound, Odie?
Sounds good, Howard.
- Professor.
- Yes?
Would you do me a favor?
Would you take a look out that window
and tell me what the wind is doing?
I would say that we have a 15-knot wind.
Would you call that a headwind,
professor?
I would, Mr. Hughes.
We must maintain silence. We must
have quiet during the proceedings.
Mr. Hughes, will you stand and be sworn?
Mr. Hughes, did you receive...
...$43 million to manufacture 100 XF-11
spy planes for the United States Air Force?
I did.
How many functional planes did you
deliver to the United States Air Force?
None.
Would you lean a little closer
to the microphones, sir?
None.
Did you receive $13 million
to manufacture...
...a prototype of a flying boat
known as The Hercules?
I did.
And did you deliver that plane?
I did not.
So by your admission
in this chamber, Mr. Hughes...
...you have received $56 million...
...from the United States government
for planes you never delivered.
That is correct.
Well, excuse me for asking,
Mr. Hughes...
...but where did all that money go?
Well, it went into the planes, senator.
And a lot more.
More? Do tell, Mr. Hughes,
what other larcenies did you commit?
I mean, I put my money
into the planes, senator. My money.
- See, the thing is that I care...
- Your personal finances are not...
Let him speak.
Proceed, Mr. Hughes.
See, the thing is,
I care very much about aviation.
It has been the great joy of my life. That's
why I put my own money into these planes.
And I've lost millions, senator,
and I'll go on losing millions. It's just...
...what I do.
Now, if I've lost a lot of the government's
money during the war, I hope folks...
...will put that into perspective.
More than 60 other airplanes ordered
from such firms as...
...Lockheed, Douglas, Northrop and Boeing
never saw action either.
In all, more than $800 million was spent
during the war on planes that never flew.
Over 6 billion on other weapons
that were never delivered.
Yet Hughes Aircraft, with her 56 million...
...is the only firm
under investigation here.
I cannot help but think that has a little more
to do with TWA than planes that did not fly.
- You've made your point, Mr. Hughes.
- One second. I have one more thing...
...to say here to this committee.
And that has to do with The Hercules.
Now, I am supposed to be many things
which are not complimentary.
I am supposed to be capricious.
I have been called a playboy.
I've even been called an eccentric...
...but I do not believe that I have
the reputation of being a liar.
Needless to say, The Hercules
was a monumental undertaking.
It is the largest plane ever built.
It is over five stories tall with a wingspan
longer than a football field.
That's more than a city block.
Now, I put the sweat of my life into this.
I got my reputation all rolled up in it.
I have stated several times
that if The Hercules fails to fly...
...I will leave this country
and never come back. And I mean it.
Now, Senator Brewster,
you can subpoena me...
...you can arrest me, you can even claim
I've folded up and taken a run-out powder...
...but, well, I've had just about enough
of this nonsense. Good afternoon.
I had to do it.
- Mr. Hughes.
- Mr. Hughes.
I'd love to see The Hercules in the air.
Thank you, thank you