The aircraft was designed to be very fast and have a long range. The Army originally ordered 100 of them for the purposes of photo reconnaissance. The order was cancelled following the end of World War II, leaving Hughes with two prototypes. The first prototype crashed on July 7, 1946, on its maiden flight. An oil leak caused the right engine propeller controls to lose their effectiveness and the rear propeller subsequently reversed its pitch, distorting much of that engine's thrust which made the aircraft yaw hard to the right and extraordinarily difficult to control. Hughes elected to make an emergency landing on the Los Angeles Country Club's golf course, but about 300 yards short of the course, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude and clipped three houses. The third house was completely destroyed by the fire resulting from the crash and Hughes was nearly killed.