On July 7, 1946, on its initial flight, the prototype of the aircraft, tail number 44-70155, flown by Hughes, crashed
Howard Hughes piloted the second prototype of the Hughes XF-11 twin-boom aircraft on April 5, 1947, for its first successful flight, which included takeoff and a safe landing.
The Hughes XF-11 was a prototype military reconnaissance aircraft that Hughes Aircraft created for the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF).
It is noteworthy that on July 7, 1946, the prototype of the aircraft, tail number 44-70155, piloted by Hughes, crashed while taking off from the Hughes Aircraft Co. factory airfield in Culver City, California.
Because Hughes did not adhere to the testing plan and communication protocol, he stayed in the air for approximately two times as long as expected. The right-hand propeller controls started to fail an hour into the flight (after the onboard video recorders had run out of film), and as a result, the rear propeller’s pitch reversed, interfering with that engine’s thrust.
The airplane yawed sharply to the right as a result.
The USAAF account said that “It appeared that loss of hydraulic fluid caused the failure of the pitch change mechanism of the right rear propeller. Mr. Hughes maintained full power of the right engine and reduced that of the left engine instead of trying to fly with the right propeller windmilling without power. It was Wright Field’s understanding that the crash was attributed to pilot error.”
Hughes attempted improvised troubleshooting (including raising and lowering the gear) instead of feathering the propeller, flying away from his manufacturing runway in the process. He finally made an attempt to fly to the Los Angeles Country Club’s golf hole, but the aircraft abruptly lost altitude approximately 300 yards short of the fairway and clipped three homes. Hughes came dangerously close to losing his life when the third house caught fire.
In the 2004 film The Aviator, the crash is shown.
Photo by Edwards History Office file photo / U.S. Air Force