The Hughes H-4 Hercules, better known as the Spruce Goose, was a wooden flying boat with a 320 foot wingspan and eight engines. Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
The completed H-4 Hercules measured 320 feet in wingspan and approximately 219 feet in length. The plane utilised eight radial engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, which each generated 3,000 horsepower. As noted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the H-4 Hercules was designed as a transport aircraft capable of carrying up to 750 fully equipped troops and military cargo across the Atlantic. The aircraft was kept in a climate-controlled hangar where it was properly maintained until the death of Hughes in 1976. In 1993, the aircraft was taken to Oregon, where it finally ended up in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville.
The original design was meant to carry personnel and supplies without exposing them to German submarines. Its size gave it the load capacity and its ability to fly meant it could cross the ocean without cargo ships. Hughes continued preserving it Although the Spruce Goose never took off in the air again. Later on, the aircraft was made a public exhibition in Long Beach, where it was kept in a special construction adjacent to the ocean liner Queen Mary. However, it was not a permanent installation for the aircraft. Its transportation to the museum included disassembly and transportation of the giant components of the aircraft. The Spruce Goose did not serve its military purpose and its only flight became its last flight ever. Despite that, the aircraft became a good example of experimental aviation engineering and is one of the most recognizable projects of Howard Hughes.
