From the Annals of the Aviation Pioneers – In 1938, Howard Hughes and a four-man crew landed their specially equipped Lockheed 14 in New York City, having circled the globe in three days, nineteen hours, and seventeen minutes. Hughes, a Houston native, was wealthy from the age of 18 as he inherited a fortune when orphaned.  He first sought fame in Hollywood in the 1920s producing and then directing movies such as Hell’s Angels (1930) and Scarface (1932).  Hughes had been fascinated with flying since his youth and used part of his incredible fortune to form the Hughes Aircraft Company in the 1930s as a division of Hughes Tool Company.  Hughes was a talented and daring pilot and set two speed records. In the 1940s, Hughes Aircraft landed several contracts to produce military aircraft, but with mixed results, as in the case of the famous HK-1 flying boat (the “Spruce Goose”).