Howard Hughes wanted to make a wooden aircraft twin engine fighter in 1937. It would have used Duramold which is a composite material process where birch or poplar plies are impregnated with phenolic resin and laminated together in a mold under heat. The general idea is similar to what the British started thinking of making in 1937 and led to the Mosquito (Image 1) Hughes D-2 would have been more smooth and used twin booms. There are not many images of the D-2 (Image 2).The US army airforce were not enthused about using wood in aircraft. The role of fast twin engine fighter made out of metal was filled by the Lockheed P-38 (Image 3).Hughes gave up making the D-2 out of wood, and started working on a metal twin engine designated XF-11. There are photographs of Hughes testing the XF-11(Image 4).In senate hearing testimony, Hughes claimed that the USAAF stole his idea for a twin engine boom aircraft.#aircraft #history #ww2
