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From: Staff
Date: 8/2/00
Time: 3:43:04 PM
Remote Name: 208.137.120.78
The original H-1 was the short wing version. This was the version that Howard set the land speed record in. Unfortunately the fuel supply was exhausted at the end of the attempt (Howard decided to make just one more high speed pass), and he was forced to belly land the airplane short of the runway. Some reports claim that Howard made it up to 540 mph on that final pass, but this is a matter of some controversy.
They learned a lot from the first version. Primarily, they learned that the H-1 needed more performance. Either more horsepower or more wing area. Additionally Howard mentioned that if he had not had to crank the landing gear down (time consuming) then he would have been able to avoid the damage caused by his wheels up landing.
They chose to add the longer wing to add performance, added fuel capacity (30 gallons additional), and the longer wing also provided the space to install a hydraulically actuated landing gear system - a first in aviation.