"Mr. Hughes?" Alex asked tentatively.

The man turned around, and it was a pale, tired man. He had a mustache and was shirtless. It's very similar to the photos of Howard Hughes that Alex had seen before, except that those photos are not as pale and senile.

"Alex, when I was your age, I dreamed of doing something that no one else could do. However, I am not you after all, you have succeeded in doing it, but mine is stuck in fantasy. At this point, I have to admire you. Hughes still said in his shrill voice, probably because of one of the injuries caused by the crash.

Alex shook his head and said, "You've done something that no one else can do." Mr. Hughes, you are the pride of Americans! It's a hero! ”

"No, I can't make a movie as perfect as The Sound of Music. After watching this movie, people feel that the people in that world are very real and perfect. I couldn't help but want to be one of the Trapp kids, they were so happy. ”

Alex then talked about the problems he encountered in making this film, and thanked Hughes for providing the plane. The two of them discussed various problems encountered while taking aerial photographs. For example, how do they solve the problem of lens vibration, the position of the target in the lens, and so on.

Hughes once made an air combat film called "Hell's Angel", in order to make this movie, he spent 2.1 million US dollars on the use of the plane alone, rented 87 aircraft, including French Spartan fighters, British SE5 fighters, Camel bombers, German Fokker fighters, as well as 135 pilots and 2,000 extras. The number of cinematographers used is so large that it accounts for almost half of the total number of Hollywood photographers.

As soon as he talked about the topics he was interested in, Hughes talked excitedly and incessantly, not at all as withdrawn and unspoken as others had described.

After they opened the topic, they were surprisingly surprised to find that both sides could talk. Hughes gives Alex the feeling of an enhanced version of "Xie Ear", an eccentric, neurotic otaku scientist. Hughes is probably the same as Xie Er, both have obsessive-compulsive disorder, and as a result, one was played badly, and the other lived well because he was taken care of by relatives and friends.

Alex had a similar friend before, he had experience dealing with this kind of person, and he didn't feel any different when he was with Hughes. Each of them has their own way of getting along, as long as they adapt to each other's way of getting along, they will find that they can communicate very well.

Their discussion began with the filming of the film and came to the manufacture and production of aircraft. In this regard, Alex's experience is far inferior to Hughes's, but fortunately he comes from an era of the Internet of information explosion. Some of his airplane theories were so good that even Hughes kept nodding his head when he heard it.

"You're saying that a swept wing is used, not a delta wing, and the more slender the fuselage, the faster the aircraft?" Hughes excitedly drew Alex onto a piece of paper, and he found that doing so would indeed keep the plane flying at high speeds.

"Yes, though, there's a big problem here." Alex pointed to the fuselage and said, "The slender fuselage can indeed minimize the drag generated by flight, and the longitudinally designed fuel tank system aircraft is also more suitable for high-speed flight." However, what we need to consider is whether the material of the aircraft can hold up, and the slender fuselage means that the material requirements are higher. ”

Hughes nodded in agreement. He thought for a moment and said, "Now that the materials are developing so fast, we will definitely be able to find suitable ones to use." Your idea is really good, and I think we will definitely be able to build such an aircraft in the future. ”

Alex said in his heart, of course it's good, this is the design plan of the Concorde passenger plane in the future. When he was looking at pictures on the Internet, he saw a strange airplane. So I was curious, so I took a look at Baidu and saw the relevant data, and now it can really be used.

"However, I think that in the end, human planes are the kind of space shuttles that can fly into space, and if I have the ability, I must build such an airplane." Alex sighed.

When Hughes heard Alex's words, as if he had been reminded, he immediately jumped up and said, "Space shuttle? Tell me what kind of plane it is. ”

So Alex mentioned the data he had seen, and he said: "The space shuttle is a kind of future aircraft, which takes off horizontally like an ordinary aircraft and flies in the atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of 16,000-30,000 kilometers per hour. The flight speed at an altitude of 30~100 kilometers is 12~25 times the speed of sound, and it can directly accelerate into the earth's orbit and become a space vehicle. ”

Hughes listened to the adrenaline rush, he clenched his fists excitedly, walked back and forth, and said, "Not bad, not bad!" Alex, you're right, our planes need to be able to fly in and out of this planet as freely as you say! The earth is the cradle of our humanity, but now we are still like babies, still lying in the cradle and unable to get out. As long as we can't fly out of the earth for a day, then we still haven't grown. ”

Alex's words are simply earth-shattering remarks for people of this era. At this time, there were no satellites, let alone space shuttles capable of flying off Earth.

The important thing is that Alex is not talking nonsense, his descriptions are very realistic. Even the most imaginative cannot accurately describe such a specific scene, and the science fiction writers can only give vague, unclear fragments of fantasy, as if looking at the future through a layer of frosted glass.

However, in Alex's description, the people who are most concerned about this aspect of the art can see the future path at once. Hughes saw the direction of the future keenly, and the picture in his mind at this moment had never been so clear.

However, Alex knows that it will take at least decades, if not half a century, to achieve this path. He saw Hughes so excited, so he took a preventive shot and said: "I guess we can't see this kind of situation, after all, the development of science and technology is not magic, it can only be achieved step by step." ”

Hughes thought about it and felt that Alex's words made some sense, but he still said, "The future you described may not come soon, but someone has to take the first step." It's like in my day, traveling around the world by plane was an unattainable thing. When someone takes that step, it becomes easier and simpler. Now, even the average American can travel around the world in a few days on a Trans World Airlines plane. ”

After hearing this, Alex agreed with him very much, and it was precisely because of the pioneers of global flight, such as Hughes and Lin Bai, that the matter of round-the-world flight was popularized. In their time, flying around the world, not to mention flying, was an extremely dangerous thing. Many people are afraid of an accidental crash, and they are extremely resistant to this novelty.

Hughes bit his nails and walked back and forth, he thought for a long time and said, "Alex, do you want to work with me on a big thing?" Something that shocked the world. ”

Alex asked strangely, "What's the matter?" What is it that you need to work with me that you can't do alone? ”

"Let's start a space company together! Yes, it's called a space company, and our goal is the universe. It's not those aircraft companies that stay in the atmosphere, if you want to do it, you can do it. ”

Alex didn't expect that his nonsense would make Hughes have such an idea. This is really unexpected, just a little hint made Howard Hughes have such a grand vision.

However, if Alex really knew Hughes, he would not be surprised at all that Hughes would want to build an airplane that could go out into space. As a matter of fact, the United States' space technology is one step ahead of the Soviet Union precisely because of the presence of Hughes.

Hughes regards talents as the precious wealth of the enterprise, and often recruits outstanding scientists, engineering and technical experts and senior managers of enterprises with high salaries, and establishes a team of scientific and technological and enterprise management personnel with the world's first-class level. He never rests on his laurels. We will continue to forge ahead and innovate and strive to catch up with the wave of the rapid and abnormal scientific and technological revolution. This is another characteristic of Howard Hughes.

After his success in the 50s, he founded Hughes Electronics Industries, and was always looking for new challenges. When the Soviet Union launched its first artificial satellite in 1957, it shocked the whole world and Hughes. At the same time, it also pointed out a direction for Hughes, that is, the vast universe. Not only Hughes, but almost all the people of that era looked up to the sky, hoping that one day they would be able to fly into the universe.

By the '60s, Hughes was selling all of his shares in TWA Airlines. He used the money to establish Hughes Aerospace and Communications Company, and soon launched the world's first geosynchronous satellite in 1963, the world's first geosynchronous meteorological satellite in 1966, and the Explorer 1 lunar landing module in 1966, which opened the prelude to the grand plan of human landing on the moon.

It can be said that Hughes contributed to the success of the United States landing on the moon in 1969. Now Hughes actually wants to pull Alex along, which is really a very unexpected thing.

"What do you think?" Hughes was still waiting for Alex's answer, his eyes shining with anticipatory enthusiasm. He likes Alex, and he hopes that Alex can join him in his path, fight together, and fight together.

Alex didn't notice this, his mind was already drifting into the distance, he was imagining space, he was imagining the moon. It is still empty, not with the American flag flying like in later generations, and outer space is not yet full of man-made objects.

The current universe is like a wilderness, waiting for people on the earth to study and develop. The age of astronautics has not yet arrived, should he join Hughes's plans?