HISTORY13 - Missile Systems in Tucson
The missile systems business in Tucson can be traced back to the manufacturing of drill bits in Texas at the beginning of the last century. In 1908 the Hughes Tool Company was established in Houston, Texas by Howard Hughes, Sr. to produce bits for oil drilling rigs. Upon the senior Hughes death in 1924, his son Howard Hughes, Jr. took over the company and in 1932 formed Hughes Aircraft Company in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The eccentric aviator/industrialist/movie producer moved Hughes Aircraft to nearby Burbank in 1946 and steadily expanded the company into the production of fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, electronics, and guided missiles. By the early 1950s, Hughes Aircraft Company was one of America’s largest aerospace companies and defense contractors. Howard Hughes, Jr. in the cockpit of the Spruce Goose, circa 1947. (Courtesy of wordpress.com) Hughes Aircraft Company - Missile Plant (1951-1972) In January 1951, during the