Aviator

Allene Hughes was worried that her son, Howard, would catch polio. Living at a time before vaccinations were common, children everywhere were getting sick. Even Franklin Roosevelt, America's president, had contracted the debilitating disease.

 Fear of germs, and what they could do to him, had deep - ultimately paralyzing - roots in the life of Howard Hughes. Before he became a recluse, however, Hughes was a wealthy businessman, film maker and aviator.

Howard's enormous wealth stemmed from his father's invention of a rolling-bit which was used in the oil industry. When Howard Sr. tested the new drill-bit, it bored through fourteen feet of solid rock for eleven hours. Stunned men in the field dubbed it the “rock eater.”

Orphaned by the time he was eighteen, Howard Hughes (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) took control of his father's businesses. As his wealth increased, so did his eccentricities. Breaking speed records in the air, Hughes also came up with novel ideas on the ground. One of his most interesting was the “Spruce Goose,” an eight-engine plane made of wood.

In this story behind the movie, meet Howard Hughes. Watch videos of his various endeavors, including the only flight of the Spruce Goose. Hear the broadcast of a reporter who was on the massive plane during its historic flight. Learn what happened to Hughes after a near-fatal airplane crash.

Step back in time to an era when oil was first discovered in Texas (at Spindletop) and polio was a much-feared disease. Learn about the illness, also called infantile paralysis, and discover how it impacted the lives of so many people. See the drill-bit, which Howard's father invented, and examine the impact it had in the industry.