MovieReal: The Aviator Page #12

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Well, who wrote that bill, senator?

Who actually wrote the C.A.B. Bill?

- The actual words. Did you write them?

- This is not how these hearings...

...are gonna be conducted.

- I have it. Maybe it'll refresh your memory.

"Bill S-987 to amend

the Civil Aeronautics Act."

Now, you introduced this bill

to the Senate.

A lot of words.

You write all of them?

- Did you write any of them, senator?

- Now, look...

Now, this entire bill was written

by Pan Am executives...

...and designed to give that airline

a monopoly on international travel.

You've been flogging this bill all around

the world on their behalf, have you not?

I have duties that take me

all over the world, Mr. Hughes.

Well, what the hell does a senator

from Maine need to visit Peru for?

I was seeking outlets for our trade goods.

Buy a lot of lobsters down there, do they?

Senator, how many times have you visited

Trippe's office in New York...

...in the last three months?

Would you like me to tell you, senator?

All right, this has gone on long enough.

Juan is a great American.

His airline has advanced the cause

of commercial aviation for decades.

Juan Trippe is a patriot. Juan Trippe is not

a man who is interested in making money.

Well, I'm sure his stockholders

would be happy to hear that.

We're gonna clear this room.

This is James McNamara speaking to you

from the Hughes 2000-ton flying boat...

... the world's largest aircraft.

This is the sky giant...

... which has prompted Congress to

investigate the war contracts of Mr. Hughes.

Before boarding the craft,

Mr. Hughes told newsmen that this test...

... would be solely a taxi experiment.

He said he didn't know what might happen.

The mammoth flying plywood shell...

... might ship water under high-speed

taxi pressure. He will not take...

... the craft into the air until next spring.

The thin man from Culver City...

... pronounced the craft an unknown quantity.

He has an idea what it can do...

None of that, now. None of that.

We are about 5 feet

in back of Mr. Hughes.

We are looking through

one of the side windows in the cockpit.

Professor, why don't you

come on up front here.

In other words, we are 30 feet high

in this aircraft.

Strap yourself in right there.

You ought to be able to see just great.

Huge crowds jam the surrounding

shoreline this morning.

All right, boys, let's fire it up.

One's good.

Two's good.

Three's good.

Four's good.

Five's good.

Six is good.

Seven's good.

Eight's good.

- Advancing master throttles.

- Advancing master throttles.

As you probably know,

I have to do a great deal...

... of screaming into our microphone.

- Understood. Lower it 15 degrees of flaps.

- Lowering 15 degrees of flaps.

Howard, she's gotta hit 70

to have any kind of chance.

Yeah, I know. I know.

It's a beautiful day here off the coast

of Southern California. Blue skies...

- ... a warm sun...

- Twenty-five miles per hour.

- And a relatively calm sea...

- Thirty.

Thirty-five.

One would think these eight power plants

might shake the craft to pieces...

Take it easy, Howard.

- Forty!

- Throttling back for starboard turn 180.

Throttling back for starboard turn 180.

The flight crew itself

consists of four men.

Mr. Hughes, however, has added 11

maintenance men to this maiden taxi test...

... stationed at various places throughout the

ship, checking points of stress and strain.

How does she sound, Odie?

Sounds good, Howard.

- Professor.

- Yes?

Would you do me a favor?

Would you take a look out that window

and tell me what the wind is doing?

I would say that we have a 15-knot wind.

Would you call that a headwind,

professor?

I would, Mr. Hughes.

We must maintain silence. We must

have quiet during the proceedings.

Mr. Hughes, will you stand and be sworn?

Mr. Hughes, did you receive...

...$43 million to manufacture 100 XF-11

spy planes for the United States Air Force?

I did.

How many functional planes did you

deliver to the United States Air Force?

None.

Would you lean a little closer

to the microphones, sir?

None.

Did you receive $ 13 million

to manufacture...

...a prototype of a flying boat

known as The Hercules?

I did.

And did you deliver that plane?

I did not.

So by your admission

in this chamber, Mr. Hughes...

...you have received $56 million...

...from the United States government

for planes you never delivered.

That is correct.

Well, excuse me for asking,

Mr. Hughes...

...but where did all that money go?

Well, it went into the planes, senator.

And a lot more.

More? Do tell, Mr. Hughes,

what other larcenies did you commit?

I mean, I put my money

into the planes, senator. My money.

- See, the thing is that I care...

- Your personal finances are not...

Let him speak.

Proceed, Mr. Hughes.

See, the thing is,

I care very much about aviation.

It has been the great joy of my life. That's

why I put my own money into these planes.

And I've lost millions, senator,

and I'll go on losing millions. It's just...

...what I do.

Now, if I've lost a lot of the government's

money during the war, I hope folks...

...will put that into perspective.

More than 60 other airplanes ordered

from such firms as...

...Lockheed, Douglas, Northrop and Boeing

never saw action either.

In all, more than $800 million was spent

during the war on planes that never flew.

Over 6 billion on other weapons

that were never delivered.

Yet Hughes Aircraft, with her 56 million...

...is the only firm

under investigation here.

I cannot help but think that has a little more

to do with TWA than planes that did not fly.

- You've made your point, Mr. Hughes.

- One second. I have one more thing...

...to say here to this committee.

And that has to do with The Hercules.

Now, I am supposed to be many things

which are not complimentary.

I am supposed to be capricious.

I have been called a playboy.

I've even been called an eccentric...

...but I do not believe that I have

the reputation of being a liar.

Needless to say, The Hercules

was a monumental undertaking.

It is the largest plane ever built.

It is over five stories tall with a wingspan

longer than a football field.

That's more than a city block.

Now, I put the sweat of my life into this.

I got my reputation all rolled up in it.

I have stated several times

that if The Hercules fails to fly...

...I will leave this country

and never come back. And I mean it.

Now, Senator Brewster,

you can subpoena me...

...you can arrest me, you can even claim

I've folded up and taken a run-out powder...

...but, well, I've had just about enough

of this nonsense. Good afternoon.

I had to do it.

- Mr. Hughes.

- Mr. Hughes.

I'd love to see The Hercules in the air.

Thank you, thank you so much.

Switch it off.

- The hearings aren't over yet.

- The hearings are over.

The airline bill will be defeated

in the Senate.

TWA will begin flights from

New York to Paris...

...then on to Moscow, to Japan,

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