I always imagined the Spruce as a boxy, wooden plane. Sort of a massive, enclosed soap box with wings. Much to my amazement. it was sleek, and shiny, the largest plane to ever fly. And it was in 1947.
'
The Spruce Goose In it's entirety
The Spruce Goose was actually a slang term penned by the press. The plane was really the Hughes H-4 Hercules and was designed and partially funded by Howard Hughes. In 1942 when the War
Department needed to transport men and material to Britain to aid in the war effort. The original design for this gigantic H4 Hercules plane was created by Henry J Kaiser, and, with help from Howard Hughes. formed the Hughes-Kaiser partnership. Long after Kaiser and then the Senate left the project, Hughes continued to finish the H-4 Hercules with his own funds. Designed to float, also, Hughes built a huge hangar, and the massive plane had its maiden voyage taxied through the,harbor and flew 70 feet above the water, and went 135 mph, remaining airborne for 1 mi, 2 years after war ended!
No comments:
Post a Comment