Although
popular belief places his
birthday at
December 24th 1905 he was actually three months
old at the time. He was born on
September 24th 1905.
If you've never seen the
flying boat (
Hughes hated the name Spruce Goose... the
airplane was mostly
birch) it's definitely worth seeing. It's currently
on permanent display in
Oregon. I saw it in
Long Beach while they were disassembling it for its move. The size of it is
mind blowing. I have tried hundreds of times to explain to
people how big it is and have
failed miserably... The closest I've gotten is to explain that you could play a whole
football game on the top of its
wings.
The
flying boat's one and only flight lasted less than one minute and was less than a
mile in distance at under 100 feet of
altitude, yet it's still one of the most
celebrated moments in
aviation history.
Wertperch asked for the reference to his real
birthdate:
My source is from
page 21 of "
Hughes, The private diaries, memos and letters" Their
source is page 120/121 of the
baptismal record at the
Saint John's Episcopal Church, it reads,
Howard Robard Hughes Jr.
Born: September 24th, 1905
Baptised: October 7th, 1906
Parents: Howard R. and
Allene Hughes
Witnesses: Mrs.
W.B. Sharp and
Rev. R.C. McIlwain
Also, on
page 22 it notes that his
aunt Annette signed a
notarized replacement
birth certificate in
1941 that had
December 24th, 1905 listed as his birthdate. This date was the date carved on his
gravestone.