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?
Does Howard Hughes exist in the Marvel universe (comics and films)?