Hughes H-1 Racer - 2006/08

IN 1935 Howard Hughes built the Hughes H-1 racer, which
would become the world’s fastest single-engine, land-based
aircraft. It was developed for one purpose: to be the fastest
landplane in the world. It achieved this goal on September 13,
1935, when Hughes piloted it to a world speed record of 353.322
mph.
Designed by Hughes, Richard Palmer, and a small team of
engineers, the H-1 had many new features at the time, including a
close-fitting engine cowling, wing fillets, and the first use of
hydraulically actuated landing gear.
Jim Wright and a talented team of craftsmen made a beautiful
reproduction of this fabulous aircraft a few years ago. However,
Jim and the replica were lost over Yellowstone National Park on
the way home to Oregon from the 2003 Experimental Aircraft
Association AirVenture event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Inspired by the work of Jim Wright and his team, I started
drawing a 1/12-scale model of this piece of aviation history.
Working from Paul Matt drawings, I have strived to maintain the
scale outline of the prototype. The result is a solid-performing
aircraft that is within most modelers’ means.
August 2006 17
BY JIM YOUNG
Except for the antenna trailing from the back of the model, it
would be hard to tell this H-1 from full-scale in flight.
An electric-powered version of
Howard Hughes’ legendary
record-breaker
The Hughes H-1 racer is sleek from any angle in the air. It was a
design that was well ahead of its time.
Photos by the author
18 MODEL AVIATION
There is ample room in this airplane’s fuselage for the radio gear
and speed control! Position and mount the gear as required for
balance.
The fairings at the wing’s root start with thin plywood and small
balsa formers.
The aileron servo is mounted to the wing and operates the aileron
through torque tubes installed in the wing.
Be sure to add a scale Howard Hughes pilot figure! A few
instruments also add to the realism.
Type: RC Sport Scale electric
Wingspan: 32 inches
Wing area: 195 square inches
Weight: 22-24 ounces
Wing loading: 16.2 ounces per square foot
Length: 25.8 inches
Motor: AstroFlight 020 brushless with AstroFlight
3.3:1 Superbox
Propeller: 8 x 6 APC-E
Battery: 3S Kokam 2000 mAh 15C Li-Poly
Static draw: 12 amps
Radio system: Airtronics Infinity 660 transmitter,
Hitec RCD Micro 555 receiver, two HS-55 servos
Flight duration: Approximately 24 minutes
Construction: Balsa, plywood, foam
Covering/finish: Chrome UltraCote, Insignia Blue
MonoKote, yellow and black vinyl trim sheet
August 2006 19
With the wing in place, the root-fairing plywood extends rearward
and blends smoothly into the fuselage.
The top of the wing fairing is planked with balsa. Take your time
here and achieve a good fit.
The battery pack will probably need to be positioned somewhat
forward, as shown. Provide a secure hold-down.
The forward section of the wing-to-fuselage fairing is being
planked. It should take three pieces to complete.
You will have to make a form over which to mold and fit the
windshield.
CONSTRUCTION
Although this model’s construction is not terribly difficult, it does
require some modeling experience. To ease building, a short kit of
laser-cut fuselage formers and professionally cut foam wing cores from
FlyingFoam.com is available from me.
Since the H-1’s scale outline has not been sacrificed, the
construction may be more detailed than you would expect with an
airplane this size. However, the results are worth the extra effort.
Tail Feathers: The tail feathers are built from 1/8 balsa sheet. Cut the
various parts using the plans as a guide, noting the grain direction.
Glue the elevator tips to the main elevator parts.
The fin is glued up from two parts, as is the rudder. If you don’t
plan on having a working rudder, you can glue it to the fin at this time.
Sand the LE of the elevators and rudder to a “V” shape, and
temporarily install cyanoacrylate hinges.
Bend a 1/16-inch music-wire elevator joiner. With the elevator
halves lined up with the stabilizer, mark the location of the joiner wire
and drill 1/16-inch holes for the joiner. If you want to have an internal
linkage for the elevator, solder a control rod to the center of the joiner
wire.
The elevator filler piece is laminated from two pieces of 1/16 balsa
with 1/64 plywood between them. This will allow you to get a nice,
sharp edge to this piece. After laminating this part, sand it down to 1/8
inch thick to match the elevators and stabilizer. Use a drill bit or a file
to make a groove in the front edge to clear the
elevator joiner.
Wing: You can build the wing with a foam
core or with traditional built-up construction.
All the prototypes have the foam wing. The
airfoil is the same NACA 23012/06 as was
used on the original H-1. The tip airfoil has
been thickened from 6% to 8% to improve the
stall performance.
Start the foam-wing construction by
cutting the cores using the templates on the
plans. A total of 3° of washout is built into the
templates.
Prepare the wing sheeting from 1/32 balsa.
Use your favorite method for sheeting foam. I
use epoxy and vacuum-bagged it with my
wife’s FoodSaver.
Trim the sheeting to the cores and mark
the location of the ailerons. Glue the 1/4 balsa
LE edge in place and carve and sand it to
shape. Cut a piece of 1/2 balsa to the outline of
the wingtip.
Using a razor saw, cut a slit in the TE of
this piece as shown on the plans. Cut a piece
of 1/64 plywood and wedge it into this slit.
Secure it with thin cyanoacrylate and trim it to
match the wingtip block. The 1/64 plywood
will reinforce the balsa and make for a tough
TE.
Glue the wingtip to the wing, making sure
to line up the 1/64 plywood with the TE. Carve
and sand the tip block to shape. Remove the
sheeted foam from the aileron area. Face the
aileron opening with 1/8 balsa at the TE of the
wing and 1/16 balsa on the inboard end. Repeat
this process for the other wing.
Frame up the ailerons. Cut two aileron
bases from 1/16 balsa and mark the locations of
the ribs on them. Cut a piece of 1/8 balsa
oversized for the LE and glue it in place. Hold
the aileron up to the opening in the wing,
mark the height of the LE, and trim it to size.
Cut oversize triangle ribs from scrap 1/16
balsa and glue them in place. Using a sanding
block, sand the ribs to match the LE and taper
the TE to match the wing TE. Add scrap balsa
to reinforce the torque-rod location. Sand the
LE to a “V” shape.
Mark the aileron and wing for
cyanoacrylate hinges, and temporarily install
the hinges. With this size model I cut down
the hinges to roughly 1/4 inch wide so the
control movement is not too stiff.
The aileron torque rods are made from 1/8-
inch aluminum tube with 1/16-inch music wire
epoxied into the ends. Cut the aluminum tubes
to size per the plans. Cut and bend the 1/16-
inch music wire to size.
The portion of the music wire that is
epoxied into the tube has a slight bend in it so
that it does not rattle around in the tube. Do
not make this bend too large or you will
deform the tube. Rough up the music wire and
clean it and the tubes with alcohol. Epoxy the
music wire into the tubes, making sure to
make a right and a left torque rod.
Mark the location of the torque rods on the
bottom of the wing. Remove a 1/8-inch-wide
strip of the bottom wing sheeting. Dig out the
foam and trial-fit the torque rod in place.
When you are satisfied with the fit, mark and
drill a 1/16-inch hole in the LE of the aileron
and fit it to the torque rod. Apply a thin coat
of petroleum jelly to the torque rod and place
it in the channel.
Cut a piece of 1/8 balsa oversize and glue it
in place over the torque rod. Make sure you
don’t affect the shape of the airfoil. Once the
glue has set, trim and sand the 1/8 balsa flush
with the wing sheeting.
Sand the root of each wing panel to
achieve the proper dihedral as noted on the
plans. Tack-glue the two wing panels
together.
The center wing joint is reinforced with
0.5- or 0.75-ounce fiberglass cloth, top and
bottom. If you cut the cloth on the 45° bias,
you will get a stronger joint since all the
fibers, instead of just half of them, will cross
the joint.
Fuselage: The fuselage is built on a
removable crutch. Cut the crutch from 1/8
balsa and add scrap 1/4 balsa as a stiffener.
Prepare the fuselage formers by laminating
F2A to F2 and F5A to F5. Trace the outline of
the upper portion of F6 onto two pieces of
scrap 1/16 balsa. These will be used to make a
fixture for forming the canopy later.
Mark the WS1s with the former
locations and score each one at the rear of
F5. Thread formers F1-F7 onto the crutch
with the stiffener up. F8 isGlue the WS1s and WM1 in place. Make
sure to keep the formers square to the crutch
and avoid gluing the formers to the crutch.
Add the 1/8 square balsa side stringers to
the fuselage assembly. Leave the stringers
long at F1 to key into FW2, and make them
long enough to reach F9. Make sure the
formers are square to the crutch before
making the stringers permanent.
Glue the ES1s to F8 and the side stringers.
Glue F9 in place and add two 1/8 square balsa
stringers on top of the ES1s between F8 and
F9. Use care here to keep everything square.
Glue the bottom stringer to F9. At this
point make sure that you haven’t made the
crutch a permanent part of the fuselage.
The entire fuselage is covered with 1/16
balsa. There are very few flat spots on this
model, so it must be planked with thin strips
of balsa. If you are new to planking, you can
use 3/32 balsa instead. This will give you a
little more “meat” to shape if the strips don’t
line up perfectly. Following is the planking
sequence I used.
I cut two 1/16 balsa strips approximately 1
inch wide. These are glued in place on each
side of the fuselage starting at the side
stringers. At the tail these strips will span
from the side stringers to the stabilizer mount.
Once these pieces are in place, put the wing in
position and square it to the fuselage.
Temporarily pin the wing in position.
Drill a 1/8-inch hole through F2 into the
wing LE. Glue a piece of 1/8-inch dowel into
the wing. With the wing lined up to the
fuselage, drill a hole through the wing and
into WM1. Open the hole in the wing to clear
a 6-32 bolt, and tap WM1 for 6-32 threads.
Toughen the threads with thin cyanoacrylate
and retap.
Fit the stabilizer to the fuselage, and sand
the mounting area to square it to the wing and
fuselage. When you are satisfied with the
alignment, glue it in place.
Add the fin assembly and the top 1/8
square balsa stringers. Add the elevator filler
piece in place to the bottom of the fin and use
it to capture the elevator joiner wire.
Now the fun starts. Cut a bunch of 1/4-
inch-wide strips of 1/16 balsa. If you cut them
with a slight bevel on each side, they will fit
better on the curved fuselage. Continuing
from the first strips, plank each side, applying
the pieces first to one side and then to the
other.
I used aliphatic glue along the edge of
each plank and positioned it on the fuselage.
Then, while holding the plank firmly against
the previous plank, I applied thin
cyanoacrylate to the inside of the plank at
each former.
Try to keep the rows even, and trim and
sand the width of the planks at the ends to
avoid having to bend the planks too much.
Once the top of the fuselage is finished, you
can remove the crutch.
Install the elevator and rudder linkage.
Plank the lower rear portion of the fuselage.
These planks are glued to F5A. Plank the
lower front portion of the fuselage between F1
and F2A.
When sanding the planking, start with 80-
grit sandpaper and a sanding block. You need
to use this grit of sandpaper to cut down all
the bumps and level the planking. If you use
finer sandpaper, you will just polish the
bumps and still have an uneven surface. Use a
light touch when sanding and be careful
around each of the formers.
Cut and install the battery tray between F1
and F3. Some balsa triangle stock at each of
the formers adds some gluing surface.
Carve the cowling from balsa block. This
is best done with a lathe or a drill press, but
you can do it by hand. Glue FW2 to the rear
of the block, and use it and the outlines from
the plans to guide your progress.
Glue the cowling in place to the front of
F1. FW1 is set into the front of the cowling
and should have 1/16 inch of downthrust and
right thrust. Add four hardwood mounting
blocks to allow for FW1 to be screwed in
place. FW1 is set up for an AstroFlight
brushless 020 motor with a Superbox.
Carve balsa block for the lower tail section
and glue it in place. Carve balsa block for
each side of the fin. This model does have a
short nose moment, so taking time to hollow
out these blocks will help with balancing. Use
filler to blend the tail pieces together, and
shape into a sharp point.
The wing fillets are not as difficult as they
look. A good portion of the fillets on the
original H-1 were made with flat sheet
aluminum, so they can easily be duplicated
with balsa sheeting.
Cut the 1/64 plywood fillet outline. Protectfuselage. Slide the fillet
outline into place and trim it to fit the fuselage.
Study the side view of the plans to see how the
fillet outline curves up the side of the fuselage.
When you are satisfied with the fit, glue
the fillet outline in place. Add scrap-balsa
triangles between WS1 and the fillet outline to
keep it firmly against the wing.
Transfer the side-view fillet outline from
the plans to the side of the fuselage. Cut an
oversize piece of 1/32 balsa to match the sideview
fillet outline and to span from F4 to the
end of the fillet.
Hold the sheeting in place against the side
of the fuselage and carefully press it down to
the fillet outline. You should be able to form it
to match the fillet outline. The sheeting should
lay flat against the side of the fuselage and the
top of the wing.
Once you are satisfied with how this
should fit, cut a piece of 0.5-ounce fiberglass
cloth to the size of the sheeting. Lay the cloth
on the inside of the sheeting and squeegee on
some epoxy. Press the sheeting in place and
pin it down. Add scrap balsa to support the LE
of the fillet and to give something for the next
piece of sheeting to glue to.
Repeat this process for the next piece of
sheeting, which spans from F4 to midway
between F2 and F3. Finish the forward portion
of the fillets with some small balsa blocks.
The canopy is fabricated from two pieces
of sheet acetate formed over a simple fixture.
Remember the two pieces of scrap balsa with
the outline of F6 on them? Cut them out and
glue some 1/16 balsa sheeting over them to
make a fixture that is approximately 2 inches
long. Sand the balsa smooth and wipe it down
to remove any dust.
Cut two rectangular pieces of acetate
oversize for the canopy. The acetate should fit
the fixture so that the lower edges can be fully
taped down. With a piece of acetate securely
taped down over the fixtures, gently warm it
with a heat gun. There will be a fine line
between softening and shrinking the acetate. I
went through a couple pieces before I got the
technique down.
26 MODEL AVIATION
You will need two pieces of acetate that
will hold their form when removed from the
fixture, one of which is cut to a rectangular
shape and is trimmed to fit between F5 and
F6. When you are pleased with the fit, tape it
in place and cut the forward windshield using
the template on the plans. The tabs on this part
will be inserted into slots cut in the fuselage.
Fit the windshield up against the canopy
and trim it to fit. When you are satisfied with
the fit, mark the locations of the tabs and cut
slots in the fuselage planking for them. The
canopy is installed after finishing, and a piece
of trim tape seals the seam between the two
pieces.
Final Assembly: Cut an opening in the top of
the wing for the aileron servo and install the
linkage. The elevator and rudder servos are
installed between F4 and F5. Make sure they
do not interfere with the aileron linkage.
I covered my H-1 with Insignia Blue
MonoKote on the wing and Chrome UltraCote
on the fuselage. I used a straightedge to scribe
panel lines and a dressmaker’s wheel to add
rivet detail. The call numbers for the wing
were cut from yellow trim sheet, and the tail
numbers were cut from black trim sheet.
I found a 1/12-scale radial engine online,
but it was too small for the cowl. I cut off the
jugs and used a ping-pong ball to make a new
crankcase. I printed out a dashboard with
gauges from my home PC and painted a 1/12-
scale Williams Bros. pilot to finish the
cockpit.
I am flying my H-1 with an AstroFlight
020 motor with a Superbox (3.3:1), a Castle
Creations Thunderbird-18 ESC, a Kokam
2000 mAhr 15C Li-Poly battery pack, and an
APC 8 x 6E propeller. This power system will
give close to 20 minutes of flight time and
really hauls the H-1 around.
Flying: The H-1 requires a simple hand
launch to get it going. I have launched it by
grabbing the rear edge of the cowl or behind
the wing and using the fillets for support. The
AstroFlight 020 has plenty of power for
climbout, so the model is forgiving of a
weak launch. The prototype required quite a
bit of down-trim, and the plans have been
updated with some positive incidence built
into the stabilizer mount.
Once in the air, the H-1 is a pleasure to fly.
It is fairly fast, but it can be slowed for more
leisurely flying. It is basically a point-itwhere-
you-want-it-to-go kind of airplane. It
does require a bit of down-elevator while
inverted, but not an excessive amount.
The 3° of washout in the wing tames the
stall characteristics. There is no sign of highspeed
stalls, and you really have to slow it
down for the low-speed stall. If the propeller is
turning, it is hard to stall.
With that in mind, it is wise to keep on a
bit of power for landings until you are over the
field. Then just flare it gently to keep the nose
up and the propeller out of the dirt.
I hope you enjoy flying your little

IN 1935 Howard Hughes built the Hughes H-1 racer, which
would become the world’s fastest single-engine, land-based
aircraft. It was developed for one purpose: to be the fastest
landplane in the world. It achieved this goal on September 13,
1935, when Hughes piloted it to a world speed record of 353.322
mph.
Designed by Hughes, Richard Palmer, and a small team of
engineers, the H-1 had many new features at the time, including a
close-fitting engine cowling, wing fillets, and the first use of
hydraulically actuated landing gear.
Jim Wright and a talented team of craftsmen made a beautiful
reproduction of this fabulous aircraft a few years ago. However,
Jim and the replica were lost over Yellowstone National Park on
the way home to Oregon from the 2003 Experimental Aircraft
Association AirVenture event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Inspired by the work of Jim Wright and his team, I started
drawing a 1/12-scale model of this piece of aviation history.
Working from Paul Matt drawings, I have strived to maintain the
scale outline of the prototype. The result is a solid-performing
aircraft that is within most modelers’ means.
August 2006 17
BY JIM YOUNG
Except for the antenna trailing from the back of the model, it
would be hard to tell this H-1 from full-scale in flight.
An electric-powered version of
Howard Hughes’ legendary
record-breaker
The Hughes H-1 racer is sleek from any angle in the air. It was a
design that was well ahead of its time.
Photos by the author
18 MODEL AVIATION
There is ample room in this airplane’s fuselage for the radio gear
and speed control! Position and mount the gear as required for
balance.
The fairings at the wing’s root start with thin plywood and small
balsa formers.
The aileron servo is mounted to the wing and operates the aileron
through torque tubes installed in the wing.
Be sure to add a scale Howard Hughes pilot figure! A few
instruments also add to the realism.
Type: RC Sport Scale electric
Wingspan: 32 inches
Wing area: 195 square inches
Weight: 22-24 ounces
Wing loading: 16.2 ounces per square foot
Length: 25.8 inches
Motor: AstroFlight 020 brushless with AstroFlight
3.3:1 Superbox
Propeller: 8 x 6 APC-E
Battery: 3S Kokam 2000 mAh 15C Li-Poly
Static draw: 12 amps
Radio system: Airtronics Infinity 660 transmitter,
Hitec RCD Micro 555 receiver, two HS-55 servos
Flight duration: Approximately 24 minutes
Construction: Balsa, plywood, foam
Covering/finish: Chrome UltraCote, Insignia Blue
MonoKote, yellow and black vinyl trim sheet
August 2006 19
With the wing in place, the root-fairing plywood extends rearward
and blends smoothly into the fuselage.
The top of the wing fairing is planked with balsa. Take your time
here and achieve a good fit.
The battery pack will probably need to be positioned somewhat
forward, as shown. Provide a secure hold-down.
The forward section of the wing-to-fuselage fairing is being
planked. It should take three pieces to complete.
You will have to make a form over which to mold and fit the
windshield.
CONSTRUCTION
Although this model’s construction is not terribly difficult, it does
require some modeling experience. To ease building, a short kit of
laser-cut fuselage formers and professionally cut foam wing cores from
FlyingFoam.com is available from me.
Since the H-1’s scale outline has not been sacrificed, the
construction may be more detailed than you would expect with an
airplane this size. However, the results are worth the extra effort.
Tail Feathers: The tail feathers are built from 1/8 balsa sheet. Cut the
various parts using the plans as a guide, noting the grain direction.
Glue the elevator tips to the main elevator parts.
The fin is glued up from two parts, as is the rudder. If you don’t
plan on having a working rudder, you can glue it to the fin at this time.
Sand the LE of the elevators and rudder to a “V” shape, and
temporarily install cyanoacrylate hinges.
Bend a 1/16-inch music-wire elevator joiner. With the elevator
halves lined up with the stabilizer, mark the location of the joiner wire
and drill 1/16-inch holes for the joiner. If you want to have an internal
linkage for the elevator, solder a control rod to the center of the joiner
wire.
The elevator filler piece is laminated from two pieces of 1/16 balsa
with 1/64 plywood between them. This will allow you to get a nice,
sharp edge to this piece. After laminating this part, sand it down to 1/8
inch thick to match the elevators and stabilizer. Use a drill bit or a file
to make a groove in the front edge to clear the
elevator joiner.
Wing: You can build the wing with a foam
core or with traditional built-up construction.
All the prototypes have the foam wing. The
airfoil is the same NACA 23012/06 as was
used on the original H-1. The tip airfoil has
been thickened from 6% to 8% to improve the
stall performance.
Start the foam-wing construction by
cutting the cores using the templates on the
plans. A total of 3° of washout is built into the
templates.
Prepare the wing sheeting from 1/32 balsa.
Use your favorite method for sheeting foam. I
use epoxy and vacuum-bagged it with my
wife’s FoodSaver.
Trim the sheeting to the cores and mark
the location of the ailerons. Glue the 1/4 balsa
LE edge in place and carve and sand it to
shape. Cut a piece of 1/2 balsa to the outline of
the wingtip.
Using a razor saw, cut a slit in the TE of
this piece as shown on the plans. Cut a piece
of 1/64 plywood and wedge it into this slit.
Secure it with thin cyanoacrylate and trim it to
match the wingtip block. The 1/64 plywood
will reinforce the balsa and make for a tough
TE.
Glue the wingtip to the wing, making sure
to line up the 1/64 plywood with the TE. Carve
and sand the tip block to shape. Remove the
sheeted foam from the aileron area. Face the
aileron opening with 1/8 balsa at the TE of the
wing and 1/16 balsa on the inboard end. Repeat
this process for the other wing.
Frame up the ailerons. Cut two aileron
bases from 1/16 balsa and mark the locations of
the ribs on them. Cut a piece of 1/8 balsa
oversized for the LE and glue it in place. Hold
the aileron up to the opening in the wing,
mark the height of the LE, and trim it to size.
Cut oversize triangle ribs from scrap 1/16
balsa and glue them in place. Using a sanding
block, sand the ribs to match the LE and taper
the TE to match the wing TE. Add scrap balsa
to reinforce the torque-rod location. Sand the
LE to a “V” shape.
Mark the aileron and wing for
cyanoacrylate hinges, and temporarily install
the hinges. With this size model I cut down
the hinges to roughly 1/4 inch wide so the
control movement is not too stiff.
The aileron torque rods are made from 1/8-
inch aluminum tube with 1/16-inch music wire
epoxied into the ends. Cut the aluminum tubes
to size per the plans. Cut and bend the 1/16-
inch music wire to size.
The portion of the music wire that is
epoxied into the tube has a slight bend in it so
that it does not rattle around in the tube. Do
not make this bend too large or you will
deform the tube. Rough up the music wire and
clean it and the tubes with alcohol. Epoxy the
music wire into the tubes, making sure to
make a right and a left torque rod.
Mark the location of the torque rods on the
bottom of the wing. Remove a 1/8-inch-wide
strip of the bottom wing sheeting. Dig out the
foam and trial-fit the torque rod in place.
When you are satisfied with the fit, mark and
drill a 1/16-inch hole in the LE of the aileron
and fit it to the torque rod. Apply a thin coat
of petroleum jelly to the torque rod and place
it in the channel.
Cut a piece of 1/8 balsa oversize and glue it
in place over the torque rod. Make sure you
don’t affect the shape of the airfoil. Once the
glue has set, trim and sand the 1/8 balsa flush
with the wing sheeting.
Sand the root of each wing panel to
achieve the proper dihedral as noted on the
plans. Tack-glue the two wing panels
together.
The center wing joint is reinforced with
0.5- or 0.75-ounce fiberglass cloth, top and
bottom. If you cut the cloth on the 45° bias,
you will get a stronger joint since all the
fibers, instead of just half of them, will cross
the joint.
Fuselage: The fuselage is built on a
removable crutch. Cut the crutch from 1/8
balsa and add scrap 1/4 balsa as a stiffener.
Prepare the fuselage formers by laminating
F2A to F2 and F5A to F5. Trace the outline of
the upper portion of F6 onto two pieces of
scrap 1/16 balsa. These will be used to make a
fixture for forming the canopy later.
Mark the WS1s with the former
locations and score each one at the rear of
F5. Thread formers F1-F7 onto the crutch
with the stiffener up. F8 isGlue the WS1s and WM1 in place. Make
sure to keep the formers square to the crutch
and avoid gluing the formers to the crutch.
Add the 1/8 square balsa side stringers to
the fuselage assembly. Leave the stringers
long at F1 to key into FW2, and make them
long enough to reach F9. Make sure the
formers are square to the crutch before
making the stringers permanent.
Glue the ES1s to F8 and the side stringers.
Glue F9 in place and add two 1/8 square balsa
stringers on top of the ES1s between F8 and
F9. Use care here to keep everything square.
Glue the bottom stringer to F9. At this
point make sure that you haven’t made the
crutch a permanent part of the fuselage.
The entire fuselage is covered with 1/16
balsa. There are very few flat spots on this
model, so it must be planked with thin strips
of balsa. If you are new to planking, you can
use 3/32 balsa instead. This will give you a
little more “meat” to shape if the strips don’t
line up perfectly. Following is the planking
sequence I used.
I cut two 1/16 balsa strips approximately 1
inch wide. These are glued in place on each
side of the fuselage starting at the side
stringers. At the tail these strips will span
from the side stringers to the stabilizer mount.
Once these pieces are in place, put the wing in
position and square it to the fuselage.
Temporarily pin the wing in position.
Drill a 1/8-inch hole through F2 into the
wing LE. Glue a piece of 1/8-inch dowel into
the wing. With the wing lined up to the
fuselage, drill a hole through the wing and
into WM1. Open the hole in the wing to clear
a 6-32 bolt, and tap WM1 for 6-32 threads.
Toughen the threads with thin cyanoacrylate
and retap.
Fit the stabilizer to the fuselage, and sand
the mounting area to square it to the wing and
fuselage. When you are satisfied with the
alignment, glue it in place.
Add the fin assembly and the top 1/8
square balsa stringers. Add the elevator filler
piece in place to the bottom of the fin and use
it to capture the elevator joiner wire.
Now the fun starts. Cut a bunch of 1/4-
inch-wide strips of 1/16 balsa. If you cut them
with a slight bevel on each side, they will fit
better on the curved fuselage. Continuing
from the first strips, plank each side, applying
the pieces first to one side and then to the
other.
I used aliphatic glue along the edge of
each plank and positioned it on the fuselage.
Then, while holding the plank firmly against
the previous plank, I applied thin
cyanoacrylate to the inside of the plank at
each former.
Try to keep the rows even, and trim and
sand the width of the planks at the ends to
avoid having to bend the planks too much.
Once the top of the fuselage is finished, you
can remove the crutch.
Install the elevator and rudder linkage.
Plank the lower rear portion of the fuselage.
These planks are glued to F5A. Plank the
lower front portion of the fuselage between F1
and F2A.
When sanding the planking, start with 80-
grit sandpaper and a sanding block. You need
to use this grit of sandpaper to cut down all
the bumps and level the planking. If you use
finer sandpaper, you will just polish the
bumps and still have an uneven surface. Use a
light touch when sanding and be careful
around each of the formers.
Cut and install the battery tray between F1
and F3. Some balsa triangle stock at each of
the formers adds some gluing surface.
Carve the cowling from balsa block. This
is best done with a lathe or a drill press, but
you can do it by hand. Glue FW2 to the rear
of the block, and use it and the outlines from
the plans to guide your progress.
Glue the cowling in place to the front of
F1. FW1 is set into the front of the cowling
and should have 1/16 inch of downthrust and
right thrust. Add four hardwood mounting
blocks to allow for FW1 to be screwed in
place. FW1 is set up for an AstroFlight
brushless 020 motor with a Superbox.
Carve balsa block for the lower tail section
and glue it in place. Carve balsa block for
each side of the fin. This model does have a
short nose moment, so taking time to hollow
out these blocks will help with balancing. Use
filler to blend the tail pieces together, and
shape into a sharp point.
The wing fillets are not as difficult as they
look. A good portion of the fillets on the
original H-1 were made with flat sheet
aluminum, so they can easily be duplicated
with balsa sheeting.
Cut the 1/64 plywood fillet outline. Protectfuselage. Slide the fillet
outline into place and trim it to fit the fuselage.
Study the side view of the plans to see how the
fillet outline curves up the side of the fuselage.
When you are satisfied with the fit, glue
the fillet outline in place. Add scrap-balsa
triangles between WS1 and the fillet outline to
keep it firmly against the wing.
Transfer the side-view fillet outline from
the plans to the side of the fuselage. Cut an
oversize piece of 1/32 balsa to match the sideview
fillet outline and to span from F4 to the
end of the fillet.
Hold the sheeting in place against the side
of the fuselage and carefully press it down to
the fillet outline. You should be able to form it
to match the fillet outline. The sheeting should
lay flat against the side of the fuselage and the
top of the wing.
Once you are satisfied with how this
should fit, cut a piece of 0.5-ounce fiberglass
cloth to the size of the sheeting. Lay the cloth
on the inside of the sheeting and squeegee on
some epoxy. Press the sheeting in place and
pin it down. Add scrap balsa to support the LE
of the fillet and to give something for the next
piece of sheeting to glue to.
Repeat this process for the next piece of
sheeting, which spans from F4 to midway
between F2 and F3. Finish the forward portion
of the fillets with some small balsa blocks.
The canopy is fabricated from two pieces
of sheet acetate formed over a simple fixture.
Remember the two pieces of scrap balsa with
the outline of F6 on them? Cut them out and
glue some 1/16 balsa sheeting over them to
make a fixture that is approximately 2 inches
long. Sand the balsa smooth and wipe it down
to remove any dust.
Cut two rectangular pieces of acetate
oversize for the canopy. The acetate should fit
the fixture so that the lower edges can be fully
taped down. With a piece of acetate securely
taped down over the fixtures, gently warm it
with a heat gun. There will be a fine line
between softening and shrinking the acetate. I
went through a couple pieces before I got the
technique down.
26 MODEL AVIATION
You will need two pieces of acetate that
will hold their form when removed from the
fixture, one of which is cut to a rectangular
shape and is trimmed to fit between F5 and
F6. When you are pleased with the fit, tape it
in place and cut the forward windshield using
the template on the plans. The tabs on this part
will be inserted into slots cut in the fuselage.
Fit the windshield up against the canopy
and trim it to fit. When you are satisfied with
the fit, mark the locations of the tabs and cut
slots in the fuselage planking for them. The
canopy is installed after finishing, and a piece
of trim tape seals the seam between the two
pieces.
Final Assembly: Cut an opening in the top of
the wing for the aileron servo and install the
linkage. The elevator and rudder servos are
installed between F4 and F5. Make sure they
do not interfere with the aileron linkage.
I covered my H-1 with Insignia Blue
MonoKote on the wing and Chrome UltraCote
on the fuselage. I used a straightedge to scribe
panel lines and a dressmaker’s wheel to add
rivet detail. The call numbers for the wing
were cut from yellow trim sheet, and the tail
numbers were cut from black trim sheet.
I found a 1/12-scale radial engine online,
but it was too small for the cowl. I cut off the
jugs and used a ping-pong ball to make a new
crankcase. I printed out a dashboard with
gauges from my home PC and painted a 1/12-
scale Williams Bros. pilot to finish the
cockpit.
I am flying my H-1 with an AstroFlight
020 motor with a Superbox (3.3:1), a Castle
Creations Thunderbird-18 ESC, a Kokam
2000 mAhr 15C Li-Poly battery pack, and an
APC 8 x 6E propeller. This power system will
give close to 20 minutes of flight time and
really hauls the H-1 around.
Flying: The H-1 requires a simple hand
launch to get it going. I have launched it by
grabbing the rear edge of the cowl or behind
the wing and using the fillets for support. The
AstroFlight 020 has plenty of power for
climbout, so the model is forgiving of a
weak launch. The prototype required quite a
bit of down-trim, and the plans have been
updated with some positive incidence built
into the stabilizer mount.
Once in the air, the H-1 is a pleasure to fly.
It is fairly fast, but it can be slowed for more
leisurely flying. It is basically a point-itwhere-
you-want-it-to-go kind of airplane. It
does require a bit of down-elevator while
inverted, but not an excessive amount.
The 3° of washout in the wing tames the
stall characteristics. There is no sign of highspeed
stalls, and you really have to slow it
down for the low-speed stall. If the propeller is
turning, it is hard to stall.
With that in mind, it is wise to keep on a
bit of power for landings until you are over the
field. Then just flare it gently to keep the nose
up and the propeller out of the dirt.
I hope you enjoy flying your little

IN 1935 Howard Hughes built the Hughes H-1 racer, which
would become the world’s fastest single-engine, land-based
aircraft. It was developed for one purpose: to be the fastest
landplane in the world. It achieved this goal on September 13,
1935, when Hughes piloted it to a world speed record of 353.322
mph.
Designed by Hughes, Richard Palmer, and a small team of
engineers, the H-1 had many new features at the time, including a
close-fitting engine cowling, wing fillets, and the first use of
hydraulically actuated landing gear.
Jim Wright and a talented team of craftsmen made a beautiful
reproduction of this fabulous aircraft a few years ago. However,
Jim and the replica were lost over Yellowstone National Park on
the way home to Oregon from the 2003 Experimental Aircraft
Association AirVenture event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Inspired by the work of Jim Wright and his team, I started
drawing a 1/12-scale model of this piece of aviation history.
Working from Paul Matt drawings, I have strived to maintain the
scale outline of the prototype. The result is a solid-performing
aircraft that is within most modelers’ means.
August 2006 17
BY JIM YOUNG
Except for the antenna trailing from the back of the model, it
would be hard to tell this H-1 from full-scale in flight.
An electric-powered version of
Howard Hughes’ legendary
record-breaker
The Hughes H-1 racer is sleek from any angle in the air. It was a
design that was well ahead of its time.
Photos by the author
18 MODEL AVIATION
There is ample room in this airplane’s fuselage for the radio gear
and speed control! Position and mount the gear as required for
balance.
The fairings at the wing’s root start with thin plywood and small
balsa formers.
The aileron servo is mounted to the wing and operates the aileron
through torque tubes installed in the wing.
Be sure to add a scale Howard Hughes pilot figure! A few
instruments also add to the realism.
Type: RC Sport Scale electric
Wingspan: 32 inches
Wing area: 195 square inches
Weight: 22-24 ounces
Wing loading: 16.2 ounces per square foot
Length: 25.8 inches
Motor: AstroFlight 020 brushless with AstroFlight
3.3:1 Superbox
Propeller: 8 x 6 APC-E
Battery: 3S Kokam 2000 mAh 15C Li-Poly
Static draw: 12 amps
Radio system: Airtronics Infinity 660 transmitter,
Hitec RCD Micro 555 receiver, two HS-55 servos
Flight duration: Approximately 24 minutes
Construction: Balsa, plywood, foam
Covering/finish: Chrome UltraCote, Insignia Blue
MonoKote, yellow and black vinyl trim sheet
August 2006 19
With the wing in place, the root-fairing plywood extends rearward
and blends smoothly into the fuselage.
The top of the wing fairing is planked with balsa. Take your time
here and achieve a good fit.
The battery pack will probably need to be positioned somewhat
forward, as shown. Provide a secure hold-down.
The forward section of the wing-to-fuselage fairing is being
planked. It should take three pieces to complete.
You will have to make a form over which to mold and fit the
windshield.
CONSTRUCTION
Although this model’s construction is not terribly difficult, it does
require some modeling experience. To ease building, a short kit of
laser-cut fuselage formers and professionally cut foam wing cores from
FlyingFoam.com is available from me.
Since the H-1’s scale outline has not been sacrificed, the
construction may be more detailed than you would expect with an
airplane this size. However, the results are worth the extra effort.
Tail Feathers: The tail feathers are built from 1/8 balsa sheet. Cut the
various parts using the plans as a guide, noting the grain direction.
Glue the elevator tips to the main elevator parts.
The fin is glued up from two parts, as is the rudder. If you don’t
plan on having a working rudder, you can glue it to the fin at this time.
Sand the LE of the elevators and rudder to a “V” shape, and
temporarily install cyanoacrylate hinges.
Bend a 1/16-inch music-wire elevator joiner. With the elevator
halves lined up with the stabilizer, mark the location of the joiner wire
and drill 1/16-inch holes for the joiner. If you want to have an internal
linkage for the elevator, solder a control rod to the center of the joiner
wire.
The elevator filler piece is laminated from two pieces of 1/16 balsa
with 1/64 plywood between them. This will allow you to get a nice,
sharp edge to this piece. After laminating this part, sand it down to 1/8
inch thick to match the elevators and stabilizer. Use a drill bit or a file
to make a groove in the front edge to clear the
elevator joiner.
Wing: You can build the wing with a foam
core or with traditional built-up construction.
All the prototypes have the foam wing. The
airfoil is the same NACA 23012/06 as was
used on the original H-1. The tip airfoil has
been thickened from 6% to 8% to improve the
stall performance.
Start the foam-wing construction by
cutting the cores using the templates on the
plans. A total of 3° of washout is built into the
templates.
Prepare the wing sheeting from 1/32 balsa.
Use your favorite method for sheeting foam. I
use epoxy and vacuum-bagged it with my
wife’s FoodSaver.
Trim the sheeting to the cores and mark
the location of the ailerons. Glue the 1/4 balsa
LE edge in place and carve and sand it to
shape. Cut a piece of 1/2 balsa to the outline of
the wingtip.
Using a razor saw, cut a slit in the TE of
this piece as shown on the plans. Cut a piece
of 1/64 plywood and wedge it into this slit.
Secure it with thin cyanoacrylate and trim it to
match the wingtip block. The 1/64 plywood
will reinforce the balsa and make for a tough
TE.
Glue the wingtip to the wing, making sure
to line up the 1/64 plywood with the TE. Carve
and sand the tip block to shape. Remove the
sheeted foam from the aileron area. Face the
aileron opening with 1/8 balsa at the TE of the
wing and 1/16 balsa on the inboard end. Repeat
this process for the other wing.
Frame up the ailerons. Cut two aileron
bases from 1/16 balsa and mark the locations of
the ribs on them. Cut a piece of 1/8 balsa
oversized for the LE and glue it in place. Hold
the aileron up to the opening in the wing,
mark the height of the LE, and trim it to size.
Cut oversize triangle ribs from scrap 1/16
balsa and glue them in place. Using a sanding
block, sand the ribs to match the LE and taper
the TE to match the wing TE. Add scrap balsa
to reinforce the torque-rod location. Sand the
LE to a “V” shape.
Mark the aileron and wing for
cyanoacrylate hinges, and temporarily install
the hinges. With this size model I cut down
the hinges to roughly 1/4 inch wide so the
control movement is not too stiff.
The aileron torque rods are made from 1/8-
inch aluminum tube with 1/16-inch music wire
epoxied into the ends. Cut the aluminum tubes
to size per the plans. Cut and bend the 1/16-
inch music wire to size.
The portion of the music wire that is
epoxied into the tube has a slight bend in it so
that it does not rattle around in the tube. Do
not make this bend too large or you will
deform the tube. Rough up the music wire and
clean it and the tubes with alcohol. Epoxy the
music wire into the tubes, making sure to
make a right and a left torque rod.
Mark the location of the torque rods on the
bottom of the wing. Remove a 1/8-inch-wide
strip of the bottom wing sheeting. Dig out the
foam and trial-fit the torque rod in place.
When you are satisfied with the fit, mark and
drill a 1/16-inch hole in the LE of the aileron
and fit it to the torque rod. Apply a thin coat
of petroleum jelly to the torque rod and place
it in the channel.
Cut a piece of 1/8 balsa oversize and glue it
in place over the torque rod. Make sure you
don’t affect the shape of the airfoil. Once the
glue has set, trim and sand the 1/8 balsa flush
with the wing sheeting.
Sand the root of each wing panel to
achieve the proper dihedral as noted on the
plans. Tack-glue the two wing panels
together.
The center wing joint is reinforced with
0.5- or 0.75-ounce fiberglass cloth, top and
bottom. If you cut the cloth on the 45° bias,
you will get a stronger joint since all the
fibers, instead of just half of them, will cross
the joint.
Fuselage: The fuselage is built on a
removable crutch. Cut the crutch from 1/8
balsa and add scrap 1/4 balsa as a stiffener.
Prepare the fuselage formers by laminating
F2A to F2 and F5A to F5. Trace the outline of
the upper portion of F6 onto two pieces of
scrap 1/16 balsa. These will be used to make a
fixture for forming the canopy later.
Mark the WS1s with the former
locations and score each one at the rear of
F5. Thread formers F1-F7 onto the crutch
with the stiffener up. F8 isGlue the WS1s and WM1 in place. Make
sure to keep the formers square to the crutch
and avoid gluing the formers to the crutch.
Add the 1/8 square balsa side stringers to
the fuselage assembly. Leave the stringers
long at F1 to key into FW2, and make them
long enough to reach F9. Make sure the
formers are square to the crutch before
making the stringers permanent.
Glue the ES1s to F8 and the side stringers.
Glue F9 in place and add two 1/8 square balsa
stringers on top of the ES1s between F8 and
F9. Use care here to keep everything square.
Glue the bottom stringer to F9. At this
point make sure that you haven’t made the
crutch a permanent part of the fuselage.
The entire fuselage is covered with 1/16
balsa. There are very few flat spots on this
model, so it must be planked with thin strips
of balsa. If you are new to planking, you can
use 3/32 balsa instead. This will give you a
little more “meat” to shape if the strips don’t
line up perfectly. Following is the planking
sequence I used.
I cut two 1/16 balsa strips approximately 1
inch wide. These are glued in place on each
side of the fuselage starting at the side
stringers. At the tail these strips will span
from the side stringers to the stabilizer mount.
Once these pieces are in place, put the wing in
position and square it to the fuselage.
Temporarily pin the wing in position.
Drill a 1/8-inch hole through F2 into the
wing LE. Glue a piece of 1/8-inch dowel into
the wing. With the wing lined up to the
fuselage, drill a hole through the wing and
into WM1. Open the hole in the wing to clear
a 6-32 bolt, and tap WM1 for 6-32 threads.
Toughen the threads with thin cyanoacrylate
and retap.
Fit the stabilizer to the fuselage, and sand
the mounting area to square it to the wing and
fuselage. When you are satisfied with the
alignment, glue it in place.
Add the fin assembly and the top 1/8
square balsa stringers. Add the elevator filler
piece in place to the bottom of the fin and use
it to capture the elevator joiner wire.
Now the fun starts. Cut a bunch of 1/4-
inch-wide strips of 1/16 balsa. If you cut them
with a slight bevel on each side, they will fit
better on the curved fuselage. Continuing
from the first strips, plank each side, applying
the pieces first to one side and then to the
other.
I used aliphatic glue along the edge of
each plank and positioned it on the fuselage.
Then, while holding the plank firmly against
the previous plank, I applied thin
cyanoacrylate to the inside of the plank at
each former.
Try to keep the rows even, and trim and
sand the width of the planks at the ends to
avoid having to bend the planks too much.
Once the top of the fuselage is finished, you
can remove the crutch.
Install the elevator and rudder linkage.
Plank the lower rear portion of the fuselage.
These planks are glued to F5A. Plank the
lower front portion of the fuselage between F1
and F2A.
When sanding the planking, start with 80-
grit sandpaper and a sanding block. You need
to use this grit of sandpaper to cut down all
the bumps and level the planking. If you use
finer sandpaper, you will just polish the
bumps and still have an uneven surface. Use a
light touch when sanding and be careful
around each of the formers.
Cut and install the battery tray between F1
and F3. Some balsa triangle stock at each of
the formers adds some gluing surface.
Carve the cowling from balsa block. This
is best done with a lathe or a drill press, but
you can do it by hand. Glue FW2 to the rear
of the block, and use it and the outlines from
the plans to guide your progress.
Glue the cowling in place to the front of
F1. FW1 is set into the front of the cowling
and should have 1/16 inch of downthrust and
right thrust. Add four hardwood mounting
blocks to allow for FW1 to be screwed in
place. FW1 is set up for an AstroFlight
brushless 020 motor with a Superbox.
Carve balsa block for the lower tail section
and glue it in place. Carve balsa block for
each side of the fin. This model does have a
short nose moment, so taking time to hollow
out these blocks will help with balancing. Use
filler to blend the tail pieces together, and
shape into a sharp point.
The wing fillets are not as difficult as they
look. A good portion of the fillets on the
original H-1 were made with flat sheet
aluminum, so they can easily be duplicated
with balsa sheeting.
Cut the 1/64 plywood fillet outline. Protectfuselage. Slide the fillet
outline into place and trim it to fit the fuselage.
Study the side view of the plans to see how the
fillet outline curves up the side of the fuselage.
When you are satisfied with the fit, glue
the fillet outline in place. Add scrap-balsa
triangles between WS1 and the fillet outline to
keep it firmly against the wing.
Transfer the side-view fillet outline from
the plans to the side of the fuselage. Cut an
oversize piece of 1/32 balsa to match the sideview
fillet outline and to span from F4 to the
end of the fillet.
Hold the sheeting in place against the side
of the fuselage and carefully press it down to
the fillet outline. You should be able to form it
to match the fillet outline. The sheeting should
lay flat against the side of the fuselage and the
top of the wing.
Once you are satisfied with how this
should fit, cut a piece of 0.5-ounce fiberglass
cloth to the size of the sheeting. Lay the cloth
on the inside of the sheeting and squeegee on
some epoxy. Press the sheeting in place and
pin it down. Add scrap balsa to support the LE
of the fillet and to give something for the next
piece of sheeting to glue to.
Repeat this process for the next piece of
sheeting, which spans from F4 to midway
between F2 and F3. Finish the forward portion
of the fillets with some small balsa blocks.
The canopy is fabricated from two pieces
of sheet acetate formed over a simple fixture.
Remember the two pieces of scrap balsa with
the outline of F6 on them? Cut them out and
glue some 1/16 balsa sheeting over them to
make a fixture that is approximately 2 inches
long. Sand the balsa smooth and wipe it down
to remove any dust.
Cut two rectangular pieces of acetate
oversize for the canopy. The acetate should fit
the fixture so that the lower edges can be fully
taped down. With a piece of acetate securely
taped down over the fixtures, gently warm it
with a heat gun. There will be a fine line
between softening and shrinking the acetate. I
went through a couple pieces before I got the
technique down.
26 MODEL AVIATION
You will need two pieces of acetate that
will hold their form when removed from the
fixture, one of which is cut to a rectangular
shape and is trimmed to fit between F5 and
F6. When you are pleased with the fit, tape it
in place and cut the forward windshield using
the template on the plans. The tabs on this part
will be inserted into slots cut in the fuselage.
Fit the windshield up against the canopy
and trim it to fit. When you are satisfied with
the fit, mark the locations of the tabs and cut
slots in the fuselage planking for them. The
canopy is installed after finishing, and a piece
of trim tape seals the seam between the two
pieces.
Final Assembly: Cut an opening in the top of
the wing for the aileron servo and install the
linkage. The elevator and rudder servos are
installed between F4 and F5. Make sure they
do not interfere with the aileron linkage.
I covered my H-1 with Insignia Blue
MonoKote on the wing and Chrome UltraCote
on the fuselage. I used a straightedge to scribe
panel lines and a dressmaker’s wheel to add
rivet detail. The call numbers for the wing
were cut from yellow trim sheet, and the tail
numbers were cut from black trim sheet.
I found a 1/12-scale radial engine online,
but it was too small for the cowl. I cut off the
jugs and used a ping-pong ball to make a new
crankcase. I printed out a dashboard with
gauges from my home PC and painted a 1/12-
scale Williams Bros. pilot to finish the
cockpit.
I am flying my H-1 with an AstroFlight
020 motor with a Superbox (3.3:1), a Castle
Creations Thunderbird-18 ESC, a Kokam
2000 mAhr 15C Li-Poly battery pack, and an
APC 8 x 6E propeller. This power system will
give close to 20 minutes of flight time and
really hauls the H-1 around.
Flying: The H-1 requires a simple hand
launch to get it going. I have launched it by
grabbing the rear edge of the cowl or behind
the wing and using the fillets for support. The
AstroFlight 020 has plenty of power for
climbout, so the model is forgiving of a
weak launch. The prototype required quite a
bit of down-trim, and the plans have been
updated with some positive incidence built
into the stabilizer mount.
Once in the air, the H-1 is a pleasure to fly.
It is fairly fast, but it can be slowed for more
leisurely flying. It is basically a point-itwhere-
you-want-it-to-go kind of airplane. It
does require a bit of down-elevator while
inverted, but not an excessive amount.
The 3° of washout in the wing tames the
stall characteristics. There is no sign of highspeed
stalls, and you really have to slow it
down for the low-speed stall. If the propeller is
turning, it is hard to stall.
With that in mind, it is wise to keep on a
bit of power for landings until you are over the
field. Then just flare it gently to keep the nose
up and the propeller out of the dirt.
I hope you enjoy flying your little