Howard Hughes in the Marvel Universe?

It's always been obvious that Howard Stark was modelled on Howard Hughes - there's plenty of evidence for this in comics and the movies, e.g. clothing choices, general appearance, lifestyle, etc.

So should we assume that there was no Howard Hughes? In particular, if I want to write a story with Hughes aircraft, such as the Spruce Goose, should I say they were developed by Stark? Or that Stark designed them for Hughes who was the financial head of another company, not its engineering genius? That way there can still be Hughes aircraft around, such as Apache helicopters etc., with Stark doing some of the designing for them when they run into technical problems their own engineers can't handle.

Any thoughts?

[Poll #2007773]

More probably unauthorised ebooks

Add Terry Pratchett to the authors whose estates are being ripped off by the site I previously mentioned. Who's a good contact for that? ansiblenews?

OK, looks like I know what I'll be doing on Thursday afternoon next week...

...Age of Ultron is launching here eight days earlier than in the USA, and it's curry day at the Weatherspoon's pub on the floor below the Vue cinema in Shepherds Bush.