Editing Howard Hughes (section)

====Hughes D-2====
{{Main|Hughes D-2}}
Development of the D-2 began around 1937, but little is known about its early gestation because Hughes' archives on the aircraft have not been made public. Aircraft historian René Francillon speculates that Hughes designed the aircraft for another circumnavigation record attempt, but the outbreak of [[World War II]] closed much of the world's airspace and made it difficult to buy aircraft parts without government approval, so he decided to sell the aircraft to the U.S. Army instead. In December 1939, Hughes proposed that the [[United States Army Air Corps]] (USAAC) procure it as a "pursuit type airplane"{{sfn|Francillon|1990|pp=52–53}}  (i.e. a [[fighter aircraft]]). It emerged as a two or three-seat [[twin-boom aircraft]] powered by two [[Pratt & Whitney R-2800]]-49 engines and constructed mostly of [[Duramold]], a type of molded [[plywood]].{{sfn|Francillon|1990|pp=54,56}} The [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF, successor to the USAAC) struggled to define a mission for the D-2, which lacked both the maneuverability of a fighter and the payload of a [[bomber]], and was highly skeptical of the extensive use of plywood; however, the project was kept alive by high-level intervention from General [[Henry H. Arnold]].{{sfn|Francillon|1990|pp=55–56}} The prototype was brought to Harper's Dry Lake in California in great secrecy in 1943 and first flew on June 20 of that year.<ref>[http://aerofiles.com/_h.html "Aircraft Ha to Hy."] ''Aerofiles''. Retrieved: July 31, 2011.</ref>{{sfn|Francillon|1990|pp=56–57}} The initial test flights revealed serious [[flight control]] problems, so the D-2 returned to the hangar for extensive changes to its wings, and Hughes proposed to redesignate it as the D-5.{{sfn|Francillon|1990|pp=56–57}} However, in November 1944, the still-incomplete D-2 was destroyed in a hangar fire reportedly caused by a lightning strike.{{sfn|Francillon|1990|p=58}}