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Hughes Aircraft Company was a major defense/aerospace company founded by Howard Hughes. The group was based near Ballona Creek, in Culver City, California, USA, on the Pacific Coast.

Hughes Aircraft was acquired by General Motors in 1985. GM sold off divisions of the company one by one during the 1980s and '90s, and today only Hughes Network Systems still operates under the Hughes name. In 1997 the defense business of Hughes Electronics merged with Raytheon and the former Hughes Research Laboratories became jointly owned by GM and Raytheon. Hughes Space and Communications was purchased by Boeing in 2000. DirecTV was ultimately purchased by News Corporation. SkyTerra Communications, Inc. completed its purchase of 100% controlling interest in Hughes Network Systems in January 2006.

History

In 1932, Howard Hughes Jr. formed Hughes Aircraft Company as a division of the Hughes Tool Company, then known as Toolco. In 1935 Hughes built the H-1 Racer, which included every streamlining concept then known, including retractable landing gear, a fully enclosed cockpit, and the first use of recessed rivets. The H-1 captured a number of speed records during the next few years, and made Hughes a household name.

In 1936 Hughes Aircraft was formed as a separate company. During World War II the company designed and built several prototype aircraft including the famous Hughes H-4 Hercules, better known to the world as the "Spruce Goose". However the plant was used primarily as a branch plant for the construction of other company's designs. At the start of the war Hughes Aircraft had only four full-time employees — by the end the number was 80,000.

Post World War II

Hughes Aircraft, Douglas Aircraft, North American Aviation, Northrop, Lockheed Aircraft were among the complex of companies in the aerospace industry which flourished in Southern California during and after World War II. At one time, Hughes was the largest employer in Southern California.

After the war, Hughes ran afoul of the United States Senate. By the summer of 1947, certain politicians had become concerned about Hughes' mismanagement of the Spruce Goose and the XF-11 photo reconnaissance plane project. They formed a special committee to investigate Hughes, but when he successfully tested both planes and then turned them over to the military, they no longer had a target to attack. Despite a highly critical committee report, Hughes was cleared.

According to an old-timer at Hughes, when the Spruce Goose flying boat was flight-tested, it was filled with beach balls instead of the traditional Ping-Pong balls used when testing most sea planes. Every available beach ball in Los Angeles was purchased for the flight test. After the flight test, the beach balls were handed out to the spectators. In retrospect, this probably shows that Hughes did not intend to fly the aircraft again.

Hughes Aerospace Group

In 1948 Hughes created a new division of the company, the Aerospace Group.

Two Hughes engineers, Simon Ramo and Dean Wooldridge, had new ideas on the packaging of electronics to make complete fire control systems. Their MA-1 system combined signals from the aircraft's radar with an analog computer to automatically guide the interceptor aircraft into the proper position for firing missiles. At the same time other teams were working with the newly formed US Air Force on air-to-air missiles, delivering the AIM-4 Falcon, then known as the F-98. The MA-1/Falcon package, with several upgrades, was the primary interceptor weapon system in the US for many years, lasting into the 1980s.

Ramo and Wooldridge would, having failed to reach agreement with Howard Hughes regarding management problems, resigned in September 1953. They founded the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation, later to join Thompson Products to form TRW, another aerospace company and a major competitor to Hughes Aircraft.

In 1953 Howard Hughes created the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and "donated" Hughes Aircraft to this foundation. This was in reaction to the Air Force's threat to cancel missile contracts because of Howard Hughes' management style and aloofness. It has been suggested that this was simply to allow his company to avoid paying taxes. The next year, L.A. "Pat" Hyland was hired as vice president and general manager of Hughes Aircraft; he would ultimately become company president and CEO after Howard Hughes' death in 1976.

Under Hyland's guidance, the Aerospace Group continued to diversify and become massively profitable, and became a primary focus of the company. The company developed radar systems, electro-optical systems, the first working laser, aircraft computer systems, missile systems, ion-propulsion engines (for space travel), and many other advanced technologies, up to the end of the Cold War.

Nobel Laureates Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann had Hughes connections: Feynman would hold weekly seminars at Hughes Research Laboratories; Gell-Mann shared an office with Malcolm Currie, later a Chief Executive Officer at Hughes. Greg Jarvis and Ronald McNair, two of the astronauts on the last flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger were Hughes alumni.

Hughes Space and Communications

Two groups within the Aerospace Group of Hughes Aircraft Company; Hughes Space and Communications Group and the Hughes Space Systems Division were later spun off in 1948 to form their own division and ultimately became the Hughes Space and Communications Company in 1961.

They built the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite, Syncom, in 1963 and followed it closely with the first geosynchronous weather satellite, ATS-1, in 1966. Later that year their Surveyor 1 made the first soft landing on the Moon as part of the lead-up to the moon landings in Project Apollo. Hughes also built Pioneer Venus in 1978, which performed the first extensive radar mapping of Venus, and the Galileo probe that flew to Jupiter in the 1990s. The company built nearly 40 percent of the satellites in service worldwide in 2000.

Satellite Models
Models continued by Boeing and marketed as such, e.g., HS376 as the Boeing 376.

Hughes Helicopters Inc

In 1947, Howard Hughes redirected the Hughes Aircraft Co efforts from airplanes to helicopters. The effort began in earnest in 1948 when helicopter manufacturer Kellett Aircraft Co. sold their latest design to Hughes for production. The H-17 Sky Crane first flew in October 1952, but was commercially unsuccessful. In 1955, Howard Hughes split the helicopter production unit from the Hughes Aircraft Co., and reconstituted it with the Hughes Tool Co. calling it Hughes Tool Co. Aircraft Division and began focusing on the production of light helicopters. The Hughes Model 269 was the first successful helicopter design. Built in 1956, and entering production in 1957, it served to capture a large portion of the commercial market for HughesIt would eventually become part of the Army inventory as a primary trainer (TH-55). In May 1965, the company won the contract for a new observation helicopter for the U.S. Army, and produced the OH-6 Cayuse (Hughes Model 369)[http://www.boeing.com/history/chronology/chron10.html, which was later developed into the civilian Hughes Model 500.

In 1972, Hughes sold the Hughes Tool Co. and reconsolidated his holdings as the Summa Corp, which maintained the Aircraft Division as its helicopter divisionIn 1975, the company won the contract for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter*" target="_blank" >with production reaching more then 1,100 by 2005. In 1982, Hughes successfully marketed civilian versions of its 500MD. The 500MD was, itself, a militarized and modified version of the Hughes Model 500 civilian helicopter. In 1983, the first production model AH-64 rolled off the production line at the company's new Mesa, Arizona plant. That same year, the helicopter division was reconstituted as Hughes Helicopter Inc. and the company was honored by the National Aeronautical Association with the prestigious Collier Trophy. The next year, 1984, the company was sold to McDonnell-Douglas to streamline Summa Corp's focus and interest in real estate development[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Howard_Hughes_Corporation#Company_refocused_on_real_estate.

Hughes' Legacy

The amazing range of science and technology spanned by the workers at Hughes Aircraft never included medical applications, because the company was a property of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which exists to this day. This restriction was imposed to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. Ironically, medical applications may well become Hughes' greatest legacy.

Timeline

  • 1932: Howard Hughes formed an aircraft division with the Hughes Tool Company.
  • 1936: Hughes Aircraft is formed as a separate company.
  • 1948: Hughes formed the Aerospace Group within the company, divided into:
    • Hughes Space and Communications Group
    • Hughes Space Systems Division
  • 1953: the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) was formed, and Hughes Aircraft reformed as a subsidiary of the foundation. The Internal Revenue Service unsuccessfully challenged its "charitable" status which made it tax-exempt.
  • 1955: Hughes formed its helicopter division, Toolco Aircraft Division
  • 1961: Hughes Space and Communications Company was formed, bringing together Hughes Space and Communications Group and the Hughes Space Systems Division and Hughes Research Laboratories completed its move to Malibu.''
  • 1972: Hughes sold the tool division of Hughes Tool Company. His remaining interests were transferred to the newly formed holding company, the Summa Corporation. This included Toolco Aircraft and Hughes' property and other businesses.
  • 1976: Toolco Aircraft became Hughes Helicopters
  • 1976: Howard Hughes dies at the age of 70, leaving no will
  • 1984: The Summa Corporation sold Hughes Helicopters to McDonnell Douglas for $500 million; it was soon renamed McDonnell Douglas Helicopters.
  • 1984: The Delaware Court of Chancery appointed eight trustees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; they decide to sell Hughes Aircraft.
  • 1985: The HHMI sold Hughes Aircraft to General Motors for $5 billion. This was merged with GM's Delco Electronics to form Hughes Electronics (or GM Hughes Electronics/GMHE). This group thus consisted of:
    • Hughes Aircraft
    • Delco Electronics
    • Hughes Space and Communications
    • Hughes Network Systems
    • from August 1992 General Dynamics' Missile Systems business.
  • 1994: Hughes Electronics introduces DirecTV
  • 1995: Hughes Space and Communications became the world's biggest supplier of commercial satellites
  • 1995: Hughes Electronics acquires Magnavox Electronic Systems from the Carlyle Group
  • 1996: Hughes Electronics and PanAmSat agree to merge their fixed satellite services into a new publicly held company, also called PanAmSat with GMHE as majority shareholder.
  • 1997: GM transferred Delco Electronics from Hughes Electronics to its Delphi Automotive Systems. Delphi became independent in 1999.
  • 1997: The defense operations of Hughes Electronics (Hughes Aircraft and missile business) are merged with Raytheon; Raytheon also acquired one half of Hughes Research Laboratories which was then incorporated as HRL Laboratories LLC.
  • 2000: Hughes Space and Communications remained independent until 2000, when it was purchased by Boeing and became Boeing Satellite Systems. Boeing and GM each purchased one third of HRL Laboratories LLC which is now co-owned by Boeing, GM and Raytheon.
  • 2003: The remaining parts of Hughes Electronics: DirecTV, DirecTV Latin America, PanAmSat and Hughes Network Systems were purchased by NewsCorp and renamed The DirecTV Group.
    • Newscorp sold PanAmSat to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in August 2004.
    • SkyTerra Communications, Inc. completed its purchase of 100% controlling interest in Hughes Network Systems from the DirecTV Group in January 2006.

External links

Defense companies of the United States | Defunct companies of the United States | Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States

Hughes Aircraft | Hughes | 休斯飞行器

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Hughes Aircraft".

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