From Booklist
Marrett was an experimental test pilot for the Hughes Aircraft Company for 20 years, and before that he flew 188 combat missions for the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. This scrupulously researched book begins by recounting Hughes' early flying years (his first flight took place in 1920, when he was 14) and continues with his work in developing aircraft during World War II and the postwar era, the growth of Hughes Aircraft, the early age of jets, and his famous flight in the Spruce Goose. Marrett tells how Hughes became a billionaire and relates his later calamitous years in Las Vegas, where, because of his desire for isolation, he became a recluse. Marrett also recounts Hughes' successful work as a film producer and his relationships with actresses, some of the most famous stars of the 1920s and 1930s. With 31 photographs, this is an engrossing look at the man and his contributions to the history of aviation. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Air & Space, January 2005
"...a continually fascinating biography."

Booklist, October 15, 2004
"...an engrossing look at the man and his contributions to the history of aviation."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"A test pilot for Howard Hughes separates fact from fiction to tell the inside story of the aviation genius who set speed records in the 1930s and went on to develop some of America's most famous aircraft and weapons. George Marrett draws on his wealth of experiences and those of other Hughes confidants to take readers inside Hughes's complex world - a world that has kept its secrets for nearly six decades. Both a gifted storyteller and a top-notch aviator himself, having tested forty types of military aircraft and logged eight thousand hours in the air, the author integrates stories of Hughes the ace pilot with Hughes the designer and businessman who became America's first billionaire." Through revealing, humorous, and sometimes tragic stories, Marrett provides a full picture of the elusive Hughes despite his obsession with working in secrecy.

SYNOPSIS