Howard Hughes once said, “If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance.” Hughes has a reputation as an innovator in many arenas, but in particular, that of aviation. He was not a man of many words, but of great action, pushing the bounds of what the human race was able to achieve. He holds many prestigious honors in the aviation community, including: the first landplane speed record of 352.46 miles per hour in 1935, and the transcontinental flight record of 7 hours, 28 minutes, and 25 seconds in 1937.
He also set the record for the fastest around-the-world flight in 1938. On July 10, 1938, Howard Hughes and his crew embarked on the esteemed flight around the world. His airplane, the Lockheed Super Electra Special, departed from Floyd Bennet Field New York at 7:19 PM and returned July 14th at 2:34 PM.
Upon his return, Hughes was heralded as a trail blazer. As such, he was propositioned by many to give a speech commemorating this momentous success. Although we are not entirely sure of when this particular speech was given, the museum has the great honor of holding this handwritten Hughes speech that humbly acknowledges the completion of his trip around the world.
In this speech Hughes gives ode to his crew and the aviation enthusiasts who came before him. He remarks that what he has done, is not a stunt, but a carefully executed plan. He says that any pilot, given the right crew, would have been capable of the same. When addressing the purpose of this flight, he said he hoped that it put the United States back in a place of notoriety. He states that the airplane was built in the United States and slowly the countries of Europe had taken the aviation records as their own. He hopes that this flight has inspired the country to make new aircraft and equipment that will in turn give jobs to many.
This speech embodies Hughes’ earlier quote. He believed that anyone is capable of helping to propel us into the future. Anyone can achieve greatness, however one must first question that which society largely accepts as impossible.