IN 1935, the world’s fastest single-engine, landbased
aircraft belonged to Howard Hughes. The H-1
Racer had many new features for its time, including
the first use of hydraulically actuated landing gear,
and Hughes achieved his goal of setting the world
speed record in it at 353.322 mph.
Jim Young’s August 2006 construction article
and model were inspired by the work of Jim Wright,
who crafted a reproduction of the original H-1 and
showcased it at the 2003 EAA’s AirVenture, in
Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Wright and the airplane
perished in a crash on the way home to Oregon from
the event.
The 1/12-scale model was designed from Paul
Matt drawings and featured a 32-inch wingspan and
wing area of 195 square inches, with a length of
25.8 inches. Constructing it from balsa, plywood,
and foam, Jim made it easier on builders by creating
a short kit of laser-cut fuselage formers and foam
wing cores available.
The fuselage was built on a removable crutch made from 1/8
balsa, with scrap ¼ balsa as a stiffener. Jim warned, after gluing
bottom stringers, not to make the crutch a permanent part of the
fuselage! The entire fuselage was also “planked” with beveled, thin
strips of balsa because of the few flat spots on the model.
Final assembly of the H-1 included a canopy fashioned from two
pieces of sheet acetate formed over a simple fixture, and MonoKote
and UltraCote covering. A straightedge and dressmaker’s wheel
were used for detail such as panel lines and rivets, and call numbers
and tail numbers were cut from yellow and black trim sheet. A
dashboard printed from a computer, and a Williams Bros. pilot
completed the cockpit.
Set up for an AstroFlight 020 motor with a Superbox (3.3:1),
Castle Creations Thunderbird-18 ESC, and Kokam 2000 mAh 15C
LiPo battery pack with an APC 8 x 6E propeller. Jim stated that the
H-1 was a pleasure to fly, and was basically a “point-it-where-youwant-
it-to-go” kind of airplane.
The H-1 Racer was featured as AMA Plans Service listing 991,
and is available for $14, plus shipping and handling. See page 171 or
go to www.modelaircraft.org/plans.aspx for ordering information. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/11
Page Numbers: 131
