Hughes Aircraft - History

History

During World War II the company designed and built several prototype aircraft at Hughes Airport. These included the famous Hughes H-4 Hercules, better known by the public's nickname for it, the "Spruce Goose", the H-1 racer, D-2 and the XF-11. However the plant's hangars at Hughes Airport, location of present day Playa Vista in the Westside of Los Angeles, California, were primarily used as a branch plant for the construction of other companies' designs. At the start of the war Hughes Aircraft had only four full-time employees—by the end the number was 80,000.