The late Howard Hughes broke a world speed recod with his “H-1” design, in 1933. He made it to 354 MPH, and the plane was very innovative for its day (one feature was the flush-rivetted construction).
Anyway, in the movie “THE AVIATOR”, Hughes mentions that the Japanese copied his design, in their Zero fighter. Is this correct? The prewar Japanese were accused of widespread pirating of foreign designs. I looked at a photo of the H-1, and indeed, iy seems to resemble the japanese airplane. Anybody know if the design crew at mitsubishi did indeed steal Hughes’ design?
Looking at the two planes, I don’t think so. They look quite different.
Here’s a post from another message board that goes into the unlikeliness of connection in quite some detail: