Mark Phelps is reporting on the Flying Magazine website that the Spruce Goose may be up for repo. That’d be something to see!
The Spruce Goose (officially known as the “Hughes H-4 Hercules” FAA registration NX37602) is the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history. It was built from birch wood because of wartime restrictions on metals, like aluminum. Critics nicknamed it the “Spruce Goose” – a name that Howard Hughes despised – even though it contained no spruce at all.
I guess “Birch Bitch” wasn’t publication friendly.
This magnificent aircraft only made one flight – with Howard Hughes at the controls – at Long Beach Harbor on November 2, 1947. The war had long since ended, but Hughes was bound and determined to show his detractors that the plane really could fly.
From Wikipedia:
During a break in the Senate hearings, Hughes returned to California to run taxi tests on the H-4. On November 2, 1947, the taxi tests began with Hughes at the controls. His crew included Dave Grant as co-pilot, two flight engineers, Don Smith and Joe Petrali, 16 mechanics, and two other flight crew. In addition, the H-4 carried seven invited guests from the press corps and an additional seven industry representatives. Thirty-six were on board.
After the first two taxi runs, four reporters left to file stories, but the remaining press stayed for the final test run of the day. After picking up speed on the channel facing Cabrillo Beach, the Hercules lifted off, remaining airborne at 70 ft (21 m) off the water and a speed of 135 miles per hour (217 km/h) for around a mile (1.6 km). At this altitude, the aircraft still experienced ground effect. Having proven to his detractors that Hughes’ (by now unneeded) masterpiece was flight-worthy, thus vindicating the use of government funds, the “Spruce Goose” never flew again. Its lifting capacity and ceiling were never tested. A full-time crew of 300 workers, all sworn to secrecy, maintained the aircraft in flying condition in a climate-controlled hangar. The crew was reduced to 50 workers in 1962, and then disbanded after Hughes’ death in 1976.
In 1980, the Hercules was acquired by the Aero Club of Southern California, which put the aircraft on display in a large dome adjacent to the Queen Mary exhibit in Long Beach, California. In 1988, The Walt Disney Company acquired both attractions and the associated real estate. Disney informed the Aero Club of Southern California that it no longer wished to display the Hercules after its highly ambitious Port Disney was scrapped. After a long search for a suitable host, the Aero Club of Southern California arranged for the Hughes flying boat to be given to Evergreen Aviation Museum in exchange for payments and a percentage of the Museum’s profits. The aircraft was transported by barge, train, and truck to its current home in McMinnville, Oregon (about 40 miles (60 km) southwest of Portland), where it was reassembled by Contractors Cargo Company and is currently on display. The aircraft arrived in McMinnville on February 27, 1993 after a 138-day, 1,055-mile (1,698 km) trip from Long Beach.
From the Flying Magazine article:
The McMinnville, Oregon, museum housing Howard Hughes’ mammoth H-4 Hercules (better known as the “Spruce Goose”) is facing financial scrutiny, and the ownership of the historic airplane is in question. The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is backed by Evergreen International Airlines founder Delford Smith, 83, and along with some of Smith’s other business entities, the cargo carrier is facing financial difficulty. According to reports in the Oregon Live online news source, creditors are trying to force Evergreen International Airlines into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and the Oregon Department of Justice is investigating whether or not funds from Smith’s businesses have been illegally comingled with museum financing.
Though the popular belief is that the museum bought the Spruce Goose for $1, apparently Smith agreed to pay its previous owner $500,000 over 20 years, plus a share of the museum profits. An attorney for the Aero Club of Southern California claims the museum still owes $50,000. Museum director Larry Wood told reporters he was unaware of the debt, and Smith himself said in a telephone interview, “I had no idea that they felt we still owed them money. I thought we were free and clear on [the Spruce Goose].”
You can read the whole article HERE.
You can find out more about the Spruce Goose on Wikipedia HERE.