HOWARD HUGHES' AROUND THE WORLD FLIGHT, 1938
| | | Howard Hughes in the cockpit of the Lockheed 14 Monoplane, which he piloted around the world in record setting time in 1938. |
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INTRODUCTION
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Industrialist and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes had a connection to Lakeland, tenuous though it may have been,through Albert Lodwick. Before establishing the Lodwick School of Aeronautics in Lakeland at the present site of Tiger Town, Lodwick had enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the aviation industry. He had been an executive at Wright Aviation, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, and Stinson Aircraft Corporation, among others. It was through their mutual interest in aviation that Hughes and Lodwick apparently met. At some point Lodwick went to work for Hughes, serving as vice-president of Hughes Tool Company in Texas.
Thus when Hughes decided to attempt to set a record for the fastest around the world flight in 1938, it was only natural that he would turn to Lodwick for assistance. Hughes named Lodwick the flight operations manager for his record setting attempt and Lodwick turned his considerable administrative skills to the task of making Hughes' flight possible and successful. Lodwick made all the arrangements with foreign governments to gain permission for Hughes to fly over and/or land in their countries,to obtain fuel, mechanical services, equipment and supplies as needed. He also provided Hughes with a detailed flight operations manual, which Hughes carried with him on the flight and to which he could refer as needed.
This exhibit documents to a small extent the flight and the reception which Hughes received upon his return to the US through photographs, which Lodwick left behind at the site of the former Lodwick School of Aeronautics when he departed Lakeland in 1955. The photos in this exhibit and others in the Albert Lodwick Photograph Collection (P700) were rescued in 1988 from a building that had been used by the Lodwick School of Aeronautics and was about to be razed.
Enjoy this return to a simpler time when "heroes" were rewarded with a ticker-tape parade through the streets of New York. |
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