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Post by Franko10 ™ on Apr 26, 2006 6:20:24 GMT -5
Excerpt from a previous interview with Robert Maheu on Howard Hughes.
"He wanted to be recognized in the world of communications, and most people don't realize that. They always think of him as wanting to make movies and the fly boy and wanting an airline. Don't get me wrong, he had an insatiable need to have an airline. I cannot remember which Apollo it was. I believe it was Apollo 14, I think, that the mission called for their walking to Surveyor II. Surveyor II was the second Hughes soft-landed vehicle. And when he found out about it, he wanted his name identified to the mission.
Well, by that time we knew the astronauts. We had entertained them on our yacht. My son Peter had become very friendly with them. We'd fly the jet, have them over here as our guests. When the astronauts from Apollo 13 returned to earth, the first place they went to was here to see the house that Howard had built for me. We threw a party for them. I still have the pictures, phenomenal pictures.
MR. ANDERSON: Where Si Redd lives now?
MR. MAHEU: Yes. Right, right, right. Yeah.
MR. ANDERSON: Great place.
MR. MAHEU: Well, I tell you, that party was absolutely incredible. And in any event, Peter calls me back from the Cape, and he says, "Impossible. NASA will not allow a manufacturer's name identified with any mission." So when I said that to Hughes, he said, "Have you ever heard of forced communication?"
"Tell me what you mean." He says, "We'll force them into it." He says, "Come up with gimmicks, unlimited expense account, and before you get through, you'll know what forced communications means."
Unlimited expense account, okay. We pulled in a yacht from Fort Lauderdale to the Cape, 167 footer. We had 15 little gold modules made of the Surveyor. We ordered 4,000 great big badges, white badges with "Hello HALO" on it. My wife and I flew to the Cape. We didn't live on the yacht. But we'd have Walter Cronkite for lunch, Hugh Downs. And on the way out, we'd give them little modules, gold modules.
"What's this?"
"That's a Surveyor. That's the vehicle that when they walk on the moon, they're going to be walking up to this."
Now, there are 4,000 people walking around the Cape with "Hello HALO." Suddenly someone said, "What's HALO?"
"Oh, HALO is Hughes Aircraft Lunar Observer."
"Well, what is that?"
"That's where they're going to go when they walk on the moon."
MR. ANDERSON: That was pretty ingenious.
MR. MAHEU: It worked. Now mind you, the night that they were blasted off, that night we entertained on the yacht the vice president of the United States and his wife, the wives of the astronauts who had just taken off, and their parents on that yacht. Now, a few days later they're finally on the moon, and they're walking to Surveyor II. By that time we have created such a demand that every network including Reuters has now this bigger module in each of their studios, with the vice president of the Hughes Aircraft identifying what it is that the guys are doing when they're talking about it."
"He wanted to be recognized in the world of communications, and most people don't realize that. They always think of him as wanting to make movies and the fly boy and wanting an airline. Don't get me wrong, he had an insatiable need to have an airline. I cannot remember which Apollo it was. I believe it was Apollo 14, I think, that the mission called for their walking to Surveyor II. Surveyor II was the second Hughes soft-landed vehicle. And when he found out about it, he wanted his name identified to the mission.
Well, by that time we knew the astronauts. We had entertained them on our yacht. My son Peter had become very friendly with them. We'd fly the jet, have them over here as our guests. When the astronauts from Apollo 13 returned to earth, the first place they went to was here to see the house that Howard had built for me. We threw a party for them. I still have the pictures, phenomenal pictures.
MR. ANDERSON: Where Si Redd lives now?
MR. MAHEU: Yes. Right, right, right. Yeah.
MR. ANDERSON: Great place.
MR. MAHEU: Well, I tell you, that party was absolutely incredible. And in any event, Peter calls me back from the Cape, and he says, "Impossible. NASA will not allow a manufacturer's name identified with any mission." So when I said that to Hughes, he said, "Have you ever heard of forced communication?"
"Tell me what you mean." He says, "We'll force them into it." He says, "Come up with gimmicks, unlimited expense account, and before you get through, you'll know what forced communications means."
Unlimited expense account, okay. We pulled in a yacht from Fort Lauderdale to the Cape, 167 footer. We had 15 little gold modules made of the Surveyor. We ordered 4,000 great big badges, white badges with "Hello HALO" on it. My wife and I flew to the Cape. We didn't live on the yacht. But we'd have Walter Cronkite for lunch, Hugh Downs. And on the way out, we'd give them little modules, gold modules.
"What's this?"
"That's a Surveyor. That's the vehicle that when they walk on the moon, they're going to be walking up to this."
Now, there are 4,000 people walking around the Cape with "Hello HALO." Suddenly someone said, "What's HALO?"
"Oh, HALO is Hughes Aircraft Lunar Observer."
"Well, what is that?"
"That's where they're going to go when they walk on the moon."
MR. ANDERSON: That was pretty ingenious.
MR. MAHEU: It worked. Now mind you, the night that they were blasted off, that night we entertained on the yacht the vice president of the United States and his wife, the wives of the astronauts who had just taken off, and their parents on that yacht. Now, a few days later they're finally on the moon, and they're walking to Surveyor II. By that time we have created such a demand that every network including Reuters has now this bigger module in each of their studios, with the vice president of the Hughes Aircraft identifying what it is that the guys are doing when they're talking about it."
