[caldrail]

Racing aircraft are designed for one thing, speed. As a result, it's a no-compromise design that makes no allowance for military equipment or usage. Various racers have been put forward for military service (the Me209 being the most famous) but the project always comes to grief one that one essential point, that since they were never designed as military aircraft, they just aren't any good for that role. So I'm afraid Howard Hughes was talking out of his bottom. The USAAF weren't so easily conned into investing time, money, and effort in trying to turn a sports aeroplane into a front line fighter. Imagine that Hughes H-1... Now add guns, ammunition, radios, armour plating... That's a lot of extra weight. What's going to happen to your performance? Is the structure strong enough? Is there enough room for this extra stuff? What about maintenance in field conditions? Is that sleek canopy suitable for a fighter pilot to adequately see out of in combat? It's a lovely looking aeroplane for sure, but a fighter it isn't.