Spruce Goose Flies: Hughes' Giant Takes Flight
Howard Hughes piloted the H-4 Hercules, derisively nicknamed the 'Spruce Goose,' for one mile at an altitude of 70 feet over Long Beach harbor on November 2, 1947. The aircraft had a 320-foot wingspan, the largest of any plane ever built, and was constructed almost entirely of laminated birch because wartime restrictions prohibited using aluminum. Hughes had originally been contracted to build a fleet of these flying boats to transport troops across the Atlantic without risking U-boat attacks. By the time the first prototype flew, the war had been over for two years and the contract was irrelevant. A Senate committee investigating war profiteering had mocked the project. Hughes made the flight to prove the plane could actually fly. It never flew again. It is now displayed at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in Oregon.
November 2, 1947
79 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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