History, examined beyond the frame.

On November 2, 1947, Howard Hughes lifted the H-4 Hercules off Long Beach Harbor. The brief flight was one chapter in a much longer engineering story.

A prototype’s first flight at Brooklands began the career of a fighter whose usefulness depended on factories, ground crews and adaptability as well as speed.

He missed the prize deadline, wrecked and repaired his airplane, and kept going. The first flight across America depended on a train full of people and spare parts.

The Hindenburg fire at Lakehurst became an event remembered through film, photographs and a radio report. The article examines the airship, the disaster and the records that shaped its legacy.