john w. wilhelm was elected president/hospitality industry of unite here at the union 's founding convention on july 9 , 2004 .

he was elected president on june 30 , 2009 , at the union ’s first constitutional convention .

previously , wilhelm became president of here on august 1 , 1998 , elected by the union 's general executive board to fill a vacancy , and was elected to a full term at the union 's 43rd general convention , july 17 , 2001 .

during his here presidency , wilhelm furthered the union ’s reputation as an organizing union , and achieved net growth after more than 25 years of membership decline .

the union also substantially diversified its national leadership , including election in 2001 of the union 's first women general officers , its first general officer of color , its first asian-american vice president , significant increases in the number of african-american , latino , and women vice presidents , and its first elected canadian director .

since 1999 , he was the chairman of unite here health .

he is a trustee of the national retirement fund , the consolidated retirement fund , and the southern nevada culinary and bartenders pension fund .

he serves as a board member of the brookings institution and the catholic legal immigration network , inc. , and is a member of the afl-cio executive committee and executive council .

wilhelm retired from unite here in 2012 , closing out 40 years of union work and leadership for working people and families .

wilhelm is a first cousin of new york city mayor bill de blasio .

john w . wilhelm

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i thought you might like to see a memorial for john w wilhelm i found on findagrave . com .
on the c - span networks : john w . wilhelm is a president for the hospitality industry of unite here
i thought you might like to see a memorial for john w . wilhelm i found on findagrave . com .
8 . his first cousin is labor leader john wilhelm , former president of unite here international union .
john wilhelm plans to step down as national president of unite here effective nov . 29 , he announced in an email message .
john w . wilhelm , jr . has filed for patents to protect the following inventions . this listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the united states patent and trademark office ( uspto ) .
5 . he ' s had three legal names : warren wilhelm jr . , warren de blasio - wilhelm and bill de blasio .
john w . wilhelm is the general president of the hotel employees and restaurant employees ( here ) international union . he was elected to this position effective august 1 , 1998 . prior to his election as president , he had served here in the position of general secretary - treasurer since 1996 . he has been employed by that union or its local unions since december 1969 . here represents 75 , 000 casino employees , more than any other union .
wilhelm has been married to elizabeth b . gilbertson since 1969 . they are the parents of two sons .
wilhelm graduated from yale college , 1967 , phi beta kappa , with high honors . after graduating from yale , wilhelm was actively involved with here ' s local unions in connecticut , serving as a business manager , a trustee , an organizing coordinator , and chief negotiator .
wilhelm plans to recommend unite / here general vice president d . taylor as his successor when the general executive board meets on nov . 29 .
12 . his paternal grandfather , donald wilhelm , graduated from harvard university , wrote nine books and collaborated with franklin d . roosevelt on a saturday evening post article .
wilhelm , who’s 67 , came to new haven to attend yale , then stayed to work for its unions . he continued working for the organization for 43 years .
for the past ten years , wilhelm has been the chief negotiator for the union ' s 45 , 000 - member local in las vegas . most of the union ' s nevada and new jersey members are employees of casinos and hotels .
in 1982 , wilhelm was named the international vice president of here , a position he filled for the next 14 years . he has served as trustee of here ' s welfare / pension funds and the southern nevada culinary and bartenders pension fund .
asked about his retirement plans , wilhelm responded by email : “i have agreed to my successor’s request to spend some time for the next year helping with the union’s pension and health programs . other than that , i have no specific plans in mind . ”
among his assignments with here , wilhelm has served as chief negotiator for the city - wide hotel contracts in boston in 1982 and 1985 ; san francisco in 1986 ; los angeles in 1988 and 1992 ; las vegas in 1989 , 1994 and 1997 ; yale university in 1982 , 1984 and 1987 ; along with numerous smaller contracts .
wilhelm presided over the blue - collar union , local 35 ( formerly of the federation of university employees , then unite here ) , and then successfully led the organizing drive to create local 34 , which represents clerical and technical workers . he succeeded where several other union organizers had failed in the 15 years previous to the successful 1983 vote to form the union ; he then led a successful strike against yale to win a first contract .
wilhelm rose to president of the national unite here union , a position he has held for the past 15 years . he helped negotiate a landmark union contract with las vegas casinos . he meanwhile kept a home in this area ( first new haven , then branford ) and remained personally active in local demonstrations and yale labor issues , helping the two sides transform one of the country’s most contentious university - workforce relationships into a productive one . ( click on the play arrow to watch him address an afl - cio convention at the omni . )
meet new york ' s new mayor , bill de blasio . ( steve sands / getty images )
1 . bill de blasio was born across the street from gracie mansion in the now - closed doctors hospital . his mother was 44 .
2 . his mother graduated from smith college , one of only two italian - americans in her class of 1938 .
3 . he grew up in cambridge , mass . , but claims he never had a boston accent since his parents were new yorkers .
4 . he ' s the youngest of three : brother steven is 13 years his senior , and donald is eight years older .
6 . he went to high school with patrick ewing , but says he can ' t dunk even though he ' s 6 - feet - 5 .
patrick ewing sure can dunk , but his former classmate bill de blasio can ' t . ( linda cataffo )
7 . his 1979 high school yearbook identified him as
future president of the u . s . a . — the untied sneakers association .
9 . he was baptized catholic , but is nonpracticing and describes himself as
spiritual .
robert redford in ' the candidate , ' bill de blasio ' s favorite film . ( handout )
13 . he was evicted from his first new york apartment , a soho walkup that he later found out was an illegal sublet .
14 . his scariest moment was traveling through a war zone on the road to nuevo leon in nicaragua in 1988 .
di fara pizza in midwood , brooklyn , is tops with bill de blasio . ( johntracy for new york daily news )
17 . he named his kids dante and chiara to honor his italian heritage .
18 . his daughter chiara was a flower girl at the wedding of his friend patrick gaspard , now the u . s . ambassador to south africa .
19 . he keeps louis armstrong lps that used to belong to his parents in his office .
20 . his favorite book is
nothing to fear
by adam cohen , and his favorite movie is
the candidate .
21 . he decorates his park slope living room with an anti - apartheid poster from the group art against apartheid .
bill de blasio ' s beloved sports team is best left unsaid . ( handout )
23 . his favorite athlete is david ortiz , star slugger for his beloved boston red sox .
24 . he loves di fara ' s pizza in midwood , brooklyn , because it uses buffalo - milk mozzarella , beloved in his grandmother ' s province in italy .
25 . if he could get one musician to appear at his inauguration , he said it would be bruce springsteen . [ his wish apparently didn ' t come true . ]
new haven’s top labor leader over the past half - century is retiring his union - made jersey .
today those unions represent the most significant private - sector workforce in town and have become a potent force in local and state elections .
tree trimming dec 1 , 2017 12 : 18 pm address : 213 maple st new haven , connecticut rating : 1 ( eonp ) 11 huntington ave . dec 1 , 2017 12 : 02 pm address : 11 huntington ave new haven , ct 06512 , usa rating : 1
the national capital immigration coalition held a rally on the national mall . the protest was billed by immigration rights…
abstract : a torque calibrator allowing the accurate calibration of impact type wrenches . the calibrator measures the displacement of a heavy fixed beam in its natural oscillation mode . the beam has a long period of natural oscillation and an elastically soft segment preventing generation of rebound signals sometimes seen in stiff systems .
abstract : a method of testing the hardness of a circular tablet is presented and comprises holding the tablet on edge between two members respectively on opposite sides of the tablet , transmitting a controlled pressure to the tablet through one of the members , transmitting from said tablet through the other of said members to a pressure gauge and recording the maximum pressure on the gauge up to the moment that the tablet breaks . apparatus is presented including a frame holding a source of pressure fluid , communicating said fluid to a pressure cylinder mounted beneath a tablet to be tested which is supported in a vertical position on edge , having the fluid pressure cylinder beneath the tablet and having a plunger in contact with the upper side of the tablet and connected with a load cell and pressure transmitting means with a pressure indicating gauge , all of this above the tablet .
source : familytreenow . com . living people records [ online ] . original data : familytreenow . com . compiled from 1000 ' s of u . s . public records sources , including property , business , historical and current records .
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howard hughes engineering pty ltd is an australian aircraft manufacturer , boat and automobile builder and general engineering company based in ballina , new south wales .

the company specializes in the design and manufacture of light aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly aircraft for the european fédération aéronautique internationale microlight and the american light-sport aircraft categories .

australian lightwing is an aircraft brand of howard hughes engineering .

howard hughes engineering

engineering international coordinator , howard r . hughes college of engineering [ 17138 ] - higheredjobs
howard r . hughes | howard r . hughes college of engineering | university of nevada , las vegas
howard r . hughes college of engineering is on facebook . to connect with howard r . hughes college of engineering , join facebook today .
inventor and aviator : a farewell is being held for ballina hughes engineering ceo howard hughes .
mr hughes founded his company howard hughes engineering in west ballina in the mid - 1970s as a boat building and general engineering business .
history of the college | howard r . hughes college of engineering | university of nevada , las vegas
cadence university program member | howard r . hughes college of engineering | university of nevada , las vegas
wealthy beyond measure and weird beyond belief , howard hughes was an aerospace leviathan .
that ' s where howard hughes , the reclusive billionaire businessman , came in .
since 2010 , hughes engineering has been developing a state of the art flight training simulator .
our cto mr . howard hughes interviewed at nor - shipping regarding our industry ' s hot topics .
it is most appropriate that unlv ' s college of engineering is named for one of the most innovative aviators and engineers of the 20th century : howard r . hughes .
our cto mr . howard hughes interviewed at nor - shipping regarding our industry ' s hot topics . | tototheo maritime
learn more about the namesake of unlv’s basketball practice center and engineering programs for undergraduates .
the next two decades were a period of rapid expansion for the school . in 1984 , the university of nevada board of regents approved separate bachelor ' s and master ' s degrees in civil engineering , computer science , electrical engineering , and mechanical engineering ( aerospace studies / air force rotc was established in 2004 ) . william wells became the first director of the school of engineering in 1986 , and a year later , all eligible engineering programs had received accreditation through the national accreditation board of engineering and technology .
in 1990 , the $ 10 million national supercomputing institute for energy and the environment took up residence in the engineering complex , enhancing the ability of engineering and computer science faculty to conduct numerical research . civil engineering became the inaugural engineering doctoral program approved by the board of regents , and marked the growth of research and advanced degree programs at the university .
the howard r . hughes college of engineering considers research centers and laboratories to be the primary vehicles for promoting scholarly research and technology transfer through partnership with industry . the following is a list of the centers associated with the college :
in 1984 , eight years after his death , hughes ' summa corporation made a generous donation to unlv ' s engineering program , which resulted in the college taking hughes ' name .
a firm believer in perseverance , this engineering professor hopes to contribute to nevada’s water conservation efforts .
in 2010 , the college of engineering joined forces with the lee business school on a program to develop engineering senior design projects into business ventures . it has seen great early success so far .
howard robard hughes , one of the richest men to emerge from the american west during the 20th century , dies while flying from acapulco to houston .
our chief technology officer mr . howard hughes interviewed at nor - shipping regarding our industry ' s hot topics on the 29th of may by safety4sea .
the replica of the h - 1 racer that hangs in the great hall of engineering is a reminder of hughes ' talent for turning vision into reality .
unlv’s howard r . hughes college of engineering is proud to incorporate the cadence products into our curriculum . within the college the products are used in classroom instruction , laboratory exercises , installed in our student computing labs , and in our research centers as research is conducted .
keep up - to - date with everything happening in the college of engineering . update your contact information !
far from the movie version of the engineering genius innovating in his lonely lab , howard robard hughes was known as an entrepreneur who also enjoyed flying airplanes and pursuing movie starlets . with his unique style , he brought excitement to and focused public attention on the aviation field .
ballina high flyer , inventor and businesses man howard ross hughes will be farewelled by family and friends at a tribute function in ballina from 2pm tomorrow ( friday ) .
in 1988 , the school of engineering separated from the college of sciences to form the howard r . hughes college of engineering , named for one of the most innovative aviators and engineers of the 20th century and a central figure in the growth of las vegas . dr . wells became the college ' s founding dean . the next year saw the completion of the thomas t . beam engineering complex , where for the first time the college ' s programs were consolidated into a single , multidisciplinary space .
a new stem recruitment graduate fellowship was started in fall 2012 , with the goal of recruiting well - prepared students into engineering .
ben lyon and greta nissen in hell ' s angels ( 1930 ) , directed by howard hughes ; nissen was replaced by jean harlow when the movie was changed from a silent film to a talking picture .
hughes was a man of many talents . he was a filmmaker ; the only stockholder in the hughes tool company ; the creator of hughes aircraft company , which became part of hughes medical institute ; and the man who built the globe - spanning twa airline .
in 1909 hughes’s father , howard r . hughes , sr . , invented a rotary bit for oil well drilling that made the family extremely wealthy . the younger hughes early showed a talent for engineering , and he later studied at the california institute of technology , pasadena , and at the rice institute of technology , houston . during this time , both his mother ( 1922 ) and father ( 1924 ) died . hughes quit school and took control of his father’s business , hughes tool company , in houston . by the time he sold the company in 1972 , it had become a multibillion - dollar venture .
better known as the
spruce goose ,
the howard hughes flying boat was designed and built by hughes aircraft co . , to be the largest wood - constructed and the largest wingspan airplane ever built . as hughes perfected his craft , he added significantly to what is known in areas of large - lift capability and power - boost systems .
on this day in history , july 10 , 1938 , howard hughes began an around - the - world flight , which he completed in 91 hours . hughes , an american business tycoon , aerospace engineer , and filmmaker was one of the wealthiest people in the world during his lifetime .
…holding a national lottery , and howard hughes , who kept a suite at the desert inn throughout the 1950s and lived there permanently from 1966 to 1970 . some of the investments made by hughes proved to be failures , including the costly landmark casino , which went bankrupt , but others were outstanding successes…
…studio and in 1945 joined howard hughes in forming california pictures corporation . sturges’s first project for the new company was the screwball comedy the sin of harold diddlebock ( 1947 ) , starring erstwhile silent star harold lloyd . it was given a limited release but then was shelved by hughes , who edited and…
…screen writers guild and producer howard hughes , who refused to credit paul jarrico because of the latter’s alleged communist leanings ; hughes ultimately prevailed , though years later jarrico’s name was added . stevenson then moved to television , working on such anthology series as the ford television theatre , cavalcade of america , and alfred… …
left image : howard hughes in 1936 . ( bettmann / contributor / getty images ) right image : dave pasho and others helping establish the cover of the cia project as a deep - sea mining operation in 1972 . photo courtesy dave pasho
in 1935 the industrialist howard hughes set a world landplane speed record of 352 miles ( 563 km ) per hour in a racer designed to his own specifications and powered by a 1 , 000 - horsepower twin - row radial engine built by pratt & whitney . the hughes h - 1 was a low - wing monoplane built with…
howard hughes piloted the flying boat on its only flight , nov . 2 , 1947 , in long beach harbor , los angeles , california . the flight covered approximately one mile and reached an altitude of approximately 70 feet above the water ' s surface .
to complete the autopsy , fowler interviewed hughes ' s former staff and evaluated newspaper reports , court depositions , old letters hughes ' s mother wrote about him and other documents ranging from transcripts of hughes ' s phone calls to his pilot logs .
the next year , doctoral programs became available in all four academic departments of the college of engineering . currently the college offers several master’s degrees in aerospace , biomedical , construction management , materials & nuclear , and transportation engineering , in addition to those offered in the traditional areas ( civil & environmental , computer science , electrical & computer , and mechanical ) .
hughes sr . died in january 1924 , when hughes jr . was just over 19 years old , so in terms of formal education and degrees he didn’t have much to show . however , he went on to found and operate a great number of successful and highly technical companies and projects . between his aptitude gained at a young age and whatever independent study he was able to achieve over the years , perhaps also trained by the engineering staff who worked for him , it appears he was certainly well - versed in engineering .
hughes did eventually find success with military flying machines . by 1976 , the hughes toolco aircraft division was reformed as hughes helicopters , which competed for both commercial and military helicopter contracts . the ah - 64 apache attack helicopter , still in boeing production today , received the collier trophy in 1983 . hughes helicopters was acquired by mcdonnell douglas in 1984 .
wealthy beyond measure and weird beyond belief , howard hughes was a daredevil sportsman , legendary lothario , hollywood producer , las vegas mogul , and aerospace leviathan , a composite of myth and melodrama . no wonder he has inspired a cottage industry of biographies , memoirs , novels , and movies .
howard hughes piloted the flying boat on its only flight , nov . 2 , 1947 , in long beach harbor , los angeles , california . the flight covered approximately one mile and reached an altitude of approximately 70 feet above the water ' s surface . see asme website for more information
ramo and wooldridge had a lot to do with getting hughes started as a first rate electronics company . when they found that howard hughes was not willing to give them any ownership in the company they decided to leave and found their own , which they did with trw . trw proved them right . they were wise to leave if they wanted to make a lot of money .
the colleges of engineering and science are working together with allied health to form multicultural programs for stem - and health - related areas to recruit , retain , and graduate under - represented minorities .
always something of a loner , hughes went into complete seclusion in 1950 . however , in 1953 he established the howard hughes medical institute , using profits from the hughes aircraft company . according to hughes , the centre was established to explore “the genesis of life itself . ” it became a leading biological and medical research institute and was one of the world’s largest and most powerful charities . the following decade he refused to appear in court to answer antitrust charges concerning twa and thus lost control of the business by default . in 1966 he sold his shares for more than $ 500 million .
hughes and boeing would cross paths in different ways both during and after his life . not only would hughes - created products such as the ah - 64 apache helicopter and spacecraft from hughes space and communications eventually become part of boeing ' s portfolio of products , but hughes also would purchase a boeing stratoliner , the first airliner with a pressurized passenger cabin , for personal use .
engineering at unlv has come a long way since 1957 , when herb wells , a local mining engineer , began part - time instruction . in 1961 , he offered 80 students courses that could lead to enrollment in the bachelor ' s program at university of nevada , reno . local growth led to the establishment of unlv ' s school of engineering in 1976 , which was housed within the college of science .
fascinated with the new technology of airplanes , hughes also invested heavily in the burgeoning west coast aviation industry . with some training in engineering from the california institute of technology and the rice institute of technology , hughes designed his own aircraft and then had his hughes aircraft company build it . in 1935 , he piloted one of his airplanes to a new world - speed record of 352 . 46 mph . his reputation as an aircraft designer and builder suffered after an ill - fated wwii government - sponsored project to build an immense plane that hughes claimed would be able to transport 750 passengers . nicknamed the spruce goose , hughes’ monstrosity flew only once : a one - mile hop on november 2 , 1947 .
…the tutelage of the demanding howard hughes , whose favour he enjoyed ( and which may have shielded him from the era’s anticommunist crusade ) , ray directed the unremarkable born to be bad ( 1950 ) , the first of a number of films he made with robert ryan . in flying leathernecks ( 1951 ) ryan played a…
, who was cast in the title role , became a major star . hughes later produced and directed
active pursuit of stem education and related grant activities through the hiring of a grant writer through the center for math , science , and engineering education ( in collaboration with college of science and college of education ) .
research laboratories is now called hrl incorporated and is jointly owned by raytheon and hughes electronics . half of the members of their board of directors are from raytheon and the other half from hughes – which is now a subsidiary of general motors . i consider that to be an unstable situation and i don’t think it’s going to last . on the other hand , it’s gone better and lasted longer than i expected thus far . you were asking what was the motivating force behind the original thrust of the hughes aircraft company . the original thrust of hughes aircraft was to develop and polish the systems engineering end of things and build military systems .
hughes’s company website talks about the “wonderful environment” that surrounded the business in its early days on smith drive .
mr hughes died peacefully at home on april 15 , aged 67 , with his wife jenny by his side .
hughes owned countless aircraft , which he stashed all over the country and flew whenever he felt like it ' or not at all . the following are the ones that played the most significant roles in hughes ' aviation affairs .
research within the college was boosted in 2009 by the opening of the brand new science and engineering building ( seb ) , which provides faculty and students with expanded opportunities for multidisciplinary research using state - of - the - art equipment .
a unique , one - of - a - kind interdisciplinary undergraduate degree program in entertainment engineering and design . a collaboration with the college of fine arts that began in 2007 , the program graduated its first class of four students in spring 2012 .
the college of education began offering a pedagogy course in fall 2012 to combine learning theory and the practice of teaching for ph . d . students in science and engineering . this is already blazing new trails to prepare future professors in stem areas .
hughes demonstrated interest in science and technology at a young age . in particular , he had great engineering aptitude , building houston ' s first
wireless
radio transmitter at age 11 . he went on to be one of the first licensed ham radio operators in houston , having the assigned callsign w5cy ( originally 5cy ) . at 12 , hughes was photographed in the local newspaper , identified as being the first boy in houston to have a
motorized
bicycle , which he had built from parts from his father ' s steam engine . he was an indifferent student , with a liking for mathematics , flying , and mechanics . he took his first flying lesson at 14 , and later attended math and aeronautical engineering courses at caltech .
although hughes never directed another film , he continued to work as a producer . in 1948 he bought a controlling interest in
the ship was conceived in the midst of world war ii , when america had just lost 800 , 000 tons of supply ships to german u - boats . henry kaiser , industrialist and builder of
liberty
ships , proposed a fleet of flying transports to meet troop and material transportation needs , flying just high enough to evade submarine attacks . kaiser approached howard hughes with his idea , and together they formed the hughes kaiser corporation and obtained an $ 18 , 000 , 000 government contract to construct three flying boats .
howard hughes - - the billionaire aviator , motion - picture producer and business tycoon - - spent most of his life trying to avoid germs . toward the end of his life , he lay naked in bed in darkened hotel rooms in what he considered a germ - free zone . he wore tissue boxes on his feet to protect them . and he burned his clothing if someone near him became ill .
mr hughes helped to instil a love of flying in younger generations by taking school students on tours of his aircraft design businesses .
you mentioned some devices i’m assuming were related to switching applications . did hughes get into microprocessors at all when they came along ?
perhaps still fascinated by satellite capabilities , espionage and the cold war , hughes was rumored to have watched the film
ice station zebra
hundreds of times during his last years . after many years as a recluse , hughes died on april 5 , 1976 .
with the december 2004 release of the film
the aviator ,
hughes ' personal life , genius and exploits have again captured the public ' s attention . one of hughes ' last requests was that he be remembered for his contributions to aviation . looking at the strides and progress made by today ' s aerospace industry - many based on hughes ' work—the aerospace world is honoring that request .
the man who headed up the ion implantation activity at hughes became a professor at caltech . i don’t remember what connections he had .
the college of engineering has been steadily growing , enrolling more than 1 , 600 undergraduates and about 250 graduate students . research expenditures have consistently exceeded $ 6 million for the last eight years . the college is continuously seeking opportunities to improve the quality of its educational and research programs .
in the years ahead , the college of engineering will continue to pursue its mission : to provide students with a solid foundation of practical and empirical knowledge that will enable them to solve wide - ranging problems , stay abreast of rapidly changing technology , and recognize their responsibilities to society .
better known as the
spruce goose ,
the howard hughes flying boat was designed and built by hughes aircraft co . , to be the largest wood - constructed and the largest wingspan airplane ever built . as hughes perfected his craft , he added significantly to what is known in areas of large - lift capability and power - boost systems . originally designated the hk - 1 in 1942 , it was designed to meet wartime troop and material transportation needs ( flying just high enough to evade submarine attacks ) . laminated wood ( mostly birch ) forms the airframe and surface structures of the seaplane , minimizing the use of critical war materials like aluminum . it was powered by eight pratt & whitney 3 , 000 horsepower engines .
in the aviation world , hughes established early speed records in a specially designed h - 1 racing aircraft . hughes was recognized as an excellent pilot , and in 1938 , he was awarded the collier trophy for an around - the - world record flight in a lockheed model 14 .
born in houston , texas , in 1905 , hughes inherited an estate of nearly a million dollars when his father died in 1923 . hughes’ father also left him the business that had created this fortune , the hughes tool company , which controlled the rights to a new oil drill technology that was in high demand . the young hughes quickly began to expand his business empire into new fields . in 1926 , he moved to hollywood , where he became involved in the rapidly growing movie industry . he produced several popular films , including hell’s angels , scarface , and the outlaw .
intended to carry 750 passengers , was not finished until 1947 . that year hughes was brought before a senate committee investigating war profiteering . in the highly publicized hearing , he sparred with sen . owen brewster and ultimately prevailed . hughes subsequently piloted ( 1947 ) the hercules , popularly known as the
what surprised you the most in your research , after getting all the documents new and old , and piecing it together ? i didn ' t even slightly appreciate how audacious and vast and even ridiculous it was . i knew that the cia tried to steal a submarine that was deep under the ocean , that was the broad strokes of it . the engineering alone , even today , would be mind blowing . but in ' 71 to 73 , when they were building the ship , it was basically redefining what was possible on the ocean . it took me a while to digest and unpack the engineering and then figure out a way to write it so people who aren ' t engineers can understand , and wouldn ' t get bored by it , and appreciate the complexity without feeling bogged down by details . it ' s a spy story for sure , but the science and technology and engineering side to it is crazy .
hughes ' creative and inventive mind extended well beyond the earth ' s atmosphere . at the age of 11 , hughes had built his own shortwave radio from scratch and taught himself morse code . he believed that , in the future , people everywhere would be able to communicate with one another instantaneously .
hughes’ first record - setter was a boeing 100a , a civilian version of the army’s p - 12b pursuit aircraft . in january 1934 hughes won the sportsman pilot free - for - all at the miami , florida all - american air meet , averaging 185 . 7 mph over a 20 - mile course .
the phobia grew so severe that it might have contributed to hughes ' s increasing addiction to codeine and his reclusiveness in the two decades before his death from heart failure in 1976 . nearly two years after his death , hughes ' s estate attorney called on former apa ceo raymond d . fowler , phd , to conduct a psychological autopsy to determine hughes ' s mental and emotional condition in his last years and to help understand the origins of his mental disorder . fowler ' s findings were used in civil lawsuits filed by people who made claims to the billionaire ' s estate . hughes had died without a will .
in adolescence , hughes was paralyzed for several months and unable to walk . after a few months , the symptoms disappeared . fowler believes hughes ' s paralysis - - for which no physical basis was found - - was psychologically based and an early manifestation of his lifelong pattern of withdrawing in times of stress .
i’d like to get a sense of how that was possible , particularly in a commercial environment and in a company like hughes that didn’t have a special position like at & t . what was the big picture at hughes ? were they just trying out random things or was there a big scheme behind it all ?
mr hughes also dedicated three years of his life to designing an affordable six - seater kit plane , in a bid to make flying more accessible for families .
howard loved the drama of flying ,
says robert w . rummel , who worked with hughes as a young engineer and later as a twa executive .
he was an outstanding pilot , and in the cockpit , he seemed to exult in the freedom of flight . of course , he was an astute businessman , and making money was one of the things that motivated him . but he had a sincere and abiding interest in aviation , and i think it was his one and only true love .
never an extrovert , hughes became increasingly reclusive after 1950 . operating through managers who rarely saw him in person , he bought up vast tracts of real estate in california , arizona , and nevada that skyrocketed in value . in 1967 , he became involved in the nevada gambling industry when he purchased the famous desert inn hotel on the las vegas strip . nevada gaming authorities welcomed hughes’ involvement because it counteracted the popular image that the mafia dominated the gambling industry . by the early 1970s , hughes had become the largest single landholder in nevada , and with around 8 , 000 nevada residents on his payroll , hughes was also the state’s largest employer .
are there any actual heroes in a story like this , despite the project ' s shortcomings ? the scientists and the engineers of the cia . there ' s a whole division in the cia that [ was ] coming up with these audacious engineering concepts . in a period of less than 15 years during the cold war , they built the u - 2 , the highest altitude spy plane , still in service today . the sr - 71 blackbird is still the fastest plane by a long shot . the first spy satellite was also the first object to go into space and bring something back . and then the glomar explorer may be the most impressive feet of naval engineering in history .
although science fiction writer arthur c . clarke originated the concept of satellites operating in a stationary , or geosynchronous , orbit above the earth , hughes made it a reality . with the invention of miniature circuit chips , the size of such a spacecraft could be greatly reduced , making it feasible to launch and place communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit . in 1963 , syncom , the world ' s first geosynchronous communications satellite , developed and built by hughes space and communications company , was launched . hughes also developed the first meteorological geosynchronous satellite , ats - 1 , launched in 1966 . boeing purchased hughes space and communications in 2000 , and it became boeing satellite systems .
, whom hughes cast as a love interest and outfitted in highly provocative clothing . he designed a special brassiere to accentuate her assets , though the actress later stated that it was never used during filming . unsurprisingly , russell’s wardrobe ran afoul of censors , and the lengthy battle between hughes and the hays office generated much publicity , helping make
in addition , our dean ' s conference room houses hughes ' original conference table . at the center of the table is a replica of the h - 1 racer .
hughes’s penchant for privacy and seclusion often entangled him in controversy . this culminated in 1971 in a scandal over what were purported to be his memoirs , which were bought for book and magazine publication at sums totalling $ 1 million . the manuscript and letters concerning it that supposedly had been written by hughes were subsequently found to be fraudulent and forged .
in 1926 hughes moved to hollywood , where he became known for making films that ran both over budget and afoul of censors . he produced several movies—notably the academy award - winning
in his new book , the taking of k - 129 : how the cia used howard hughes to steal a russian sub in the most daring covert operation in history , out september 5 , author josh dean takes readers on a fascinating—and optimistic—journey through this strange saga . vice chatted with dean by phone for insight into what was officially known as project azorian , why the us government was so intent on finding a partially destroyed sub , and how a cold war episode like this one resonates amid the frosty current relationship between ( some of ) the us government and moscow .
it was almost like he was perfectly created for this character—and i don ' t think there ' s anyone you could have hired or worked with who plausibly would do something so speculative and expensive . ocean mining was new , and to build a ship that cost [ so much ] and go out there and spend an additional who knows how much—it ' s not believable . except with howard hughes , people are like , oh yeah , that guy is crazy . he built the spruce goose . he built a wooden airplane that didn ' t fly . he would do anything .
the hughes h - 4 hercules
spruce goose
. despite its nickname , the h - 4 was built almost entirely of birch , rather than spruce . photo source : urltoken
that research led fowler to believe that hughes ' s fear for his health most likely emerged from his childhood . hughes ' s mother was constantly worried about her son ' s exposure to germs , terrified that he would catch polio , a major health threat at the time . his mother checked him every day for diseases and was cautious about what he ate .
. several directors also left the production , and eventually hughes took over . the film was finally released in 1930 . while the storyline—two british pilots fall in love with a socialite during
hughes harnessed the 1 , 000 horsepower of a pratt & whitney twin wasp junior to set an international speed record of 352 mph in 1935 before making a gear - up landing in a bean field . in 1937 , fitted with longer wings , the racer took hughes from coast to coast in seven hours , 28 minutes , breaking the transcontinental record he ' d set the previous year in a northrop gamma . hughes never flew the h - 1 again . it was retired to a quonset hut in southern california after a mere 42 hours of flight time .
in 1942 , when german u - boats were taking a tremendous toll on u . s . world war ii liberty ships , shipbuilder henry kaiser conceived the idea of a large fleet of troop / cargo flying boats constructed of wood because of the wartime metal shortage . donald douglas turned down the project , and kaiser enlisted hughes . with a government contract of $ 18 million , the hk - 1 ( for hughes - kaiser ) was underway . development proved too slow for kaiser , and when he pulled out , hughes renamed the airplane the h - 4 hercules .
the latest hughes biopic , directed by martin scorsese and starring leonardo dicaprio , is titled the aviator , which may seem surprising to all but aviation enthusiasts . although hughes is remembered these days mostly for a pathological late - life fear of germs , he was once world - renowned as a record - setting pilot , a patron of pioneering aircraft , and a principal architect of the airline industry .
attended harvard university for one year , but dropped out . he then attended law school at iowa state university , but apparently did not finish that program before completing the bar exam anyway . however , he went on to be granted patents on several key oil - drilling technologies , and founded and ran a tool - manufacturing company for 15 years , so he must have picked up some engineering aptitude along the way .
eventually , the world ' s largest flying boat was completed and moved overland from the hughes factory in culver city , calif . , to long beach ( calif . ) terminal island . because the airframe was mostly made of wood , it acquired the nickname
spruce goose .
hughes hated the name because the wood used was birch , and it belittled a masterful design and the dedication of hundreds of workers .
, and his company had several government contracts , notably for the hughes xf - 11 and the h - 4 hercules . the planes ran over schedule , however , as did his movies , and were not completed until after the war . in 1946 he flew the hughes xf - 11 , a reconnaissance plane , on its maiden test flight and suffered a nearly fatal accident . the hercules , an eight - engine wooden
the mammoth aircraft was designated the hk - 1 ( hughes kaiser design number 1 ) in 1942 . laminated wood ( mostly birch ) forms the airframe and surface structures of the seaplane , minimizing the use of critical war materials like aluminum . it was powered by eight pratt & whitney 3 , 000 horsepower engines . after the war ' s end in 1945 , hughes invested his own money to keep the project going .
the college is especially proud of its faculty , some of whom have received national recognition — fellows of their respective professional organizations and national / international awards in recognition of their contribution to specific areas of research – while others exhibit great potential in many areas including biomedical , environmental , renewable energy , security , and transportation engineering . their achievements are reflected in the external funding they have received from federal and state agencies , as well as private industries .
the college of engineering connects with the community in various ways , including the sponsoring of hands - on and experiential field trip activities for local middle and high school students . through membership in their industrial advisory boards , the college continuously engages community and industry partners for their input on curriculum , research and development activities , scholarships , internships and career opportunities for students , while the bi - annual fred and harriet cox senior design competition is sponsored by local industries . for many years , the college of engineering has also been a supporter of las vegas regional first ( for inspiration & recognition of science and technology ) robotics competition , which brings more than 1 , 300 high school students to the campus annually . in addition , college faculty and students are actively involved in mentoring clark county high school teams to prepare for the competition , while also remaining involved in the first lego league , aimed at junior high students .
determined to get a military airplane contract , hughes designed the xf - 11 , a twin - engine , twin - boomed , high - altitude reconnaissance airplane that was reminiscent of the famed lockheed p - 38 lightning . but during the airplane ' s initial flight in 1946 , hughes was almost killed in a crash when an oil leak caused the aft set of counter - rotating propellers on the starboard engine to go into reverse pitch .
although the rumors of hughes’ bizarre behavior have been exaggerated–in part due to a fraudulent memoir published in 1971–in his final years the billionaire became even more obsessed with privacy . he continually moved between his residences in las vegas , the bahamas , nicaragua , canada , england , and mexico . other than a few male aides , almost nobody saw hughes , and he sometimes worked for days at a stretch in a black - curtained room without sleeping .
that’s interesting . i knew that a lot of people were working on storage tubes , but mainly in the context of computing where some people were thinking about memory type devices . was hughes interested in that kind of thing at all ?
emaciated and deranged from too little food and too many drugs , hughes finally became so ill that his aides decided that he needed medical treatment . he died in his airplane en route from acapulco to houston at the age of 70 .
during his early years , hughes garnered more fame and notoriety as a movie director and producer than as an aviation pioneer . although he produced many movies on varying subjects , aviation was his first love . hughes wrote and directed the world war i epic
hell ' s angels ,
which began filming in 1928 . he assembled an array of 87 world war i aircraft and personally directed the aerial combat scenes over mines field ( now los angeles international airport ) .
the blue streak hughes went into the airplane business in 1934 . at 28 , he ' d already produced and directed hell ' s angels , a film epic about world war i aerial combat , and he ' d recently set a national speed record and won a race in a highly modified boeing 100a biplane . now he assembled a small team of employees into what would eventually become the hughes aircraft company and embarked on the project that anchored his place in aviation history .
cabin class the racer whetted hughes ' appetite for more records . to set an around - the - world mark , he bought the sole douglas dc - 1 but dumped it almost immediately for an amphibian , which he could set down on water in case of an engine problem . hughes already had plenty of experience with a sikorsky s - 38 . he bought a new sikorsky s - 43 , a twin - engine amphibian that was 70 mph faster than the s - 38 .
the following year hughes bought the desert inn , a resort casino in las vegas . he reportedly made the purchase after being told to vacate its penthouse . this sparked a buying spree that included other casinos and large swathes of undeveloped land ; in the 1950s he had purchased property outside las vegas , and it would later become the planned community known as summerlin . hughes subsequently played an influential role in las vegas’s development , changing the city’s image—which was strongly linked to the mafia —and bringing more corporate investment .
in 1952 i went to work for hughes aircraft company after finishing my graduate work at caltech and getting a ph . d . by that time william shockley , john bardeen and walter brattain had invented the transistor and the world of vacuum tubes essentially disappeared .
i never doubted that i would go on to do postgraduate work , but before i got around to that i spent a year in st . paul working for the engineering research associates , which was organized by the reserve captain engstrom , who was in charge of the operation i was assigned to in washington . the captain that ran that operation realized that none of his decent engineers would likely want to stay in the navy or go into civil service , so he had the foresight to organize a little company and get funding for it .
the s - 43 proved to be unsuitable for around - the - world duty , but hughes continued to modify it until crash - landing in lake mead , near las vegas , in 1943 .
the [ center of gravity ] was just way too far forward ,
says bruce burk , who started working for hughes in 1937 and later oversaw his personal fleet .
if it had happened on the ground , you would have called it a ground loop , so i guess this was a water loop .
hughes and his four - man crew departed from floyd bennett field in long island new york in a lockheed 14 super electra . from there , the men continued to paris , moscow , omsk , yakutsk , fairbanks , and minneapolis before returning to new york city .
ironically , hughes ended up neglecting his own hygiene later in his life , rarely bathing or brushing his teeth . he even forced his compulsions on those around him , ordering staff to wash their hands multiple times and layer their hands with paper towels when serving his food .
let’s back up again . it would be really helpful if you would give some sense of the dynamic between hughes and places doing similar research , such as bell labs and the various universities in california – stanford and so on . it is clear that ideas were being circulated around .
but sold the shares in 1953 . the following year he bought the whole company only to sell it again in 1955 . he remained chairman of the board of rko until 1957 , when he left the film industry . that year hughes , who had relationships with a number of prominent actresses , married
i think it ' s difficult for readers who don ' t have a great sense of hughes as a cultural figure to understand why he was such an ideal front . can you talk about that ? once they solved the engineering problem , which was huge—like , how can we actually pull a submarine off the bottom of the ocean 16 , 000 feet down ? it was a 3 million pound piece of steel that was going to be attached to millions more pounds of steel . but once they figured it out , they were like , how are we going to explain the fact that we ' ve got this big ship parked in the middle of the pacific in a region where ships aren ' t usually sitting and not that far from where the soviets lost a sub ? like , that ' s going to look really suspicious . they needed a cover . they needed some way to explain it . it could start a war .
hughes was also a central figure in the growth of las vegas into an international resort destination . he spent most of the last years of his life in las vegas , where he owned an airport , a television station , a ranch , several hotel - casinos , and a great deal of valuable land .
on sept . 13 , 1935 , hughes ' vision of building the fastest plane in the world became a reality . he set a world - record speed of 352 . 39 miles per hour in the skies over santa ana , breaking the previous record of 314 . 32 held by raymond delmotte of france .
filming for
jet pilot ,
starring john wayne , began in 1949 and extended through 1951 . hughes continued to perfect the aerial scenes , and the film was not released until 1957 . in this era before computer - generated imagery , hughes needed real airplanes to film his scenes . thanks to his pioneering work in aviation , the u . s . air force was willing to help him out . segments included exceptional f - 86 aerial scenes with pilot chuck yeager at the controls of one of the sabre jets . moviegoers also saw footage of northrop ' s xf - 89 scorpion prototype—which appeared as a russian fighter .
the no . 2 xf - 11 was modified , and the counter - rotating propellers were switched out for standard , variable - pitch blades . hughes would not , however , secure any military orders for the xf - 11 , as the army air corps opted for the boeing rb - 50 for high - altitude long - range reconnaissance .
yes . i interviewed at rca , general electric , sandia corporation and los alamos , the latter two being the only work that would be reasonably high tech in new mexico . i had an attraction to new mexico , but had no hesitation to go to work for hughes . i was recruited by ruben mettler . he left hughes shortly thereafter , joined ramo and wooldridge , and eventually became ceo of trw . i knew ruben mettler mainly as a result of the fact that he and i were housemothers at two different student houses at the same time . caltech doesn’t have fraternities . ruben mettler got his ph . d . a little before i did . we have remained good friends all these years .
one of the first things i did at hughes was to take a look at the various possible applications of lasers to figure out which ones would suit the company best . by far and away the most obvious was the laser rangefinder . building laser rangefinders , laser target identification equipment and the like turned into a big deal – a $ 100 million operation in the factory .
the very first digital watches used electroluminescent displays . only when they got liquid crystal displays did they stand a chance of having a decent battery life . in the beginning hughes was very competitive in this area , thanks largely to bob bauer’s invention of the ion - implanted device . however they fell by the wayside in the long run . i don’t think even ti is a major supplier of watches anymore .
after inheriting substantial wealth from his family ' s estate in 1923 , hughes embarked on a course to make his dreams of aviation come true . he became a successful businessman running several companies , including the airline twa . he lent his expertise in the design of the lockheed l - 049 constellation and flew the first
connie ,
in twa livery , on a record - breaking cross - country flight .
i couldn’t say that they were ever a major manufacturer of integrated circuits . they had an operation that was trying to become a major supplier of integrated circuits , but it was not very successful – for a variety of reasons not necessarily related to lack of technology . at one point hughes was a prime supplier of watch circuits for digital watches , but texas instruments and japanese companies beat them hands down when they got into mass production .
hughes ' s fear of germs grew throughout his life , and he concurrently developed obsessive - compulsive symptoms around efforts to protect himself from germs , fowler notes . for example , he wrote a staff manual on how to open a can of peaches - - including directions for removing the label , scrubbing the can down until it was bare metal , washing it again and pouring the contents into a bowl without touching the can to the bowl .
the replica of the world - record setting h - 1 that hughes and richard palmer designed is suspended from the great hall ' s high ceiling was built by leon starr , who incorporated much of the fine detail of the original , right down to the flush - mounted rivets from the same batch that held down the polished - aluminum skin of the original airplane . the original aircraft is in the smithsonian institution in washington , d . c .
under the guise of creating an undersea mining vessel , hughes tool company contracted with the u . s . central intelligence agency in november 1970 to build the glomar explorer , equipped with a giant retrieval claw to attempt a recovery of the submarine . in 1974 , the glomar explorer retrieved half of the hull containing three nuclear - armed ballistic missiles , two nuclear torpedoes and code information from a depth of some 16 , 000 feet ( 4 , 853 meters ) .
the first job i had at hughes was in the storage tube department . the other department in that organization was the traveling wave tube department . both of these activities were initiated by andrew hythe , who was the director of what became the research laboratories – the position i eventually had . andrew hythe was interested in traveling wave tubes and display devices . it was felt that the kinds of systems in radar equipment that hughes was interested in pursuing could use both of those devices . one of the objectives we had in mind was to build a bright display . the existing displays on radar sets used a long persistence phosphor . they were generally faint and faded out rapidly . what we had in mind was to build a storage tube on which an image could be written that would persist and be bright so that a fighter pilot would be able to quickly glance down his display and back up at the view outside without being blinded by the change of light intensity .