More than 66 years after it first flew, Howard Hughes' gigantic, wooden H-4 Hercules -- nicknamed the Spruce Goose -- still has one of the widest wingspans of any airplane: 320 feet. It's housed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, in McMinnville, Oregon.
Bizarre giant: The Spruce Goose —
More than 66 years after it first flew, Howard Hughes' gigantic, wooden H-4 Hercules -- nicknamed the Spruce Goose -- still has one of the widest wingspans of any airplane: 320 feet. It's housed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, in McMinnville, Oregon.
Courtesy Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
At the time it was built, the H-4 was the world's largest airplane. It had to be moved in sections from its construction site on Los Angeles' west side, south to its Long Beach hangar.
Construction —
At the time it was built, the H-4 was the world's largest airplane. It had to be moved in sections from its construction site on Los Angeles' west side, south to its Long Beach hangar.
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Hughes, pictured here in the plane's pilot seat, flew the H-4 during its only flight. On November 2, 1947, off California's Long Beach harbor, the seaplane became airborne for about a mile and reached an altitude of about 70 feet. Saying it needed more development, Hughes stored it in a hangar and never let it fly again.
Howard Hughes —
Hughes, pictured here in the plane's pilot seat, flew the H-4 during its only flight. On November 2, 1947, off California's Long Beach harbor, the seaplane became airborne for about a mile and reached an altitude of about 70 feet. Saying it needed more development, Hughes stored it in a hangar and never let it fly again.
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Hughes -- an ambitious Texas-born businessman, engineer, film producer and pilot -- died in 1976 at age 70. Was the Spruce Goose a failure? Depends on whom you ask. Hughes proved it could fly, but it was never officially certified. Lawmakers hauled Hughes before a congressional committee to explain why he spent $22 million of taxpayer money on a plane that only flew once. Hughes pointed out that he had spent an additional $18 million of his own funds to develop the plane.
Was the Spruce Goose a failure? —
Hughes -- an ambitious Texas-born businessman, engineer, film producer and pilot -- died in 1976 at age 70. Was the Spruce Goose a failure? Depends on whom you ask. Hughes proved it could fly, but it was never officially certified. Lawmakers hauled Hughes before a congressional committee to explain why he spent $22 million of taxpayer money on a plane that only flew once. Hughes pointed out that he had spent an additional $18 million of his own funds to develop the plane.
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The Spruce Goose was designed to carry more than 700 troops across the ocean as a way to avoid threats from enemy submarines.
Troop mover —
The Spruce Goose was designed to carry more than 700 troops across the ocean as a way to avoid threats from enemy submarines.
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The news media nicknamed the seaplane the Spruce Goose because it was made mostly of wood.
Wooden behemoth —
The news media nicknamed the seaplane the Spruce Goose because it was made mostly of wood.
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In the early 1980s, the aircraft became a tourist attraction when it was moved from its hangar to a nearby dome structure next to the docked luxury ocean liner Queen Mary. In the 1990s the plane was acquired by the Evergreen museum for $500,000 and shipped up the West Coast to Oregon by barge.
Big moves —
In the early 1980s, the aircraft became a tourist attraction when it was moved from its hangar to a nearby dome structure next to the docked luxury ocean liner Queen Mary. In the 1990s the plane was acquired by the Evergreen museum for $500,000 and shipped up the West Coast to Oregon by barge.
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