Spruce Goose Replica 1The ‘Spruce Goose’ was the largest flying boat every built and yet it made only one flight.  What links the legendary Howard Hughes to this unique aircraft?  Read on to find out…

Why was it built?

During the Second World War, German submarines were sinking so many ships that the U. S. Department of War faced a crisis.  They desperately needed war materials and troops to get across the Atlantic.  In 1942, they asked for someone to build an aircraft that could achieve this.  A major catch was that due to wartime shortages, the aircraft had to be made from materials other than metal.

Who designed it?

The multi-millionaire, film producer, film director and aviator Howard Hughes teamed up with Henry J. Kaiser to build the largest aircraft at that time.  It was designed to be capable of carrying 750 troops with full equipment, or even a Sherman tank.  It was originally called HK-1, which stood for Hughes and Kaiser.

The design takes shape

The original HK-1 contract was a developmental one, which asked for three aircraft to be built in under two years.  This time frame was because they were so desperately needed for the war.  Seven designs were looked at, including aircraft with single and twin hulls, and combinations of four, six and eight engines mounted on the wings.  The design that was chosen went on to become the Spruce Goose and it was enormous.  It was mostly built from wood and this also earned it the nickname ‘the flying lumberyard’.  It is said that Howard Hughes hated the name ‘Spruce Goose’.

The project did not go smoothly.  Kaiser had the original idea for a type of flying cargo ship but his background was not in aeronautics, so he had to bow to Howard Hughes and his aircraft designer, Glenn Odekirk.  The use of aluminum was restricted and Hughes was a perfectionist.  Both of these things caused delays.  Although the first HK-1 was built sixteen months after the contract began, Kaiser dropped out of the project.

Howard Hughes goes it alone…

Undaunted, Hughes carried on alone.  He renamed the aircraft HFB-1, which stood for Hughes Flying Boat, 1st design.  It then became the H-4 Hercules.  Hughes signed a new contract with the Government which allowed for only one such aircraft to be produced.  Work went so slowly that the H-4 was not finished until long after the war was over.

Hughes called to face the Senate

In 1947, Hughes was summoned to testify before the Senate War Investigating Committee.  This was with regard to his usage of government funds to build the aircraft, which hadn’t even flown yet.  On the 6th August 1947, in his first of several appearances before the Senate, Hughes said

“The Hercules was a monumental undertaking.  It is the largest aircraft ever built.  It is over five storeys tall with a wingspan longer than a football field.  That’s more than a city block.  Now, I put the sweat of my life into this thing.  I have my reputation all rolled up in it and I have stated several times that if it’s a failure I’ll probably leave this country and never come back.  And I mean it.”

The Spruce Goose flies…

The Senate hearings took a break and Hughes returned to California to run the Spruce Goose through some taxi tests.  On 2nd November 1947, the tests took place. On board were Hughes as pilot, a co-pilot, two flight engineers, sixteen mechanics and two other flight crew.  There were also seven journalists and seven industry representatives.  This gave a total of thirty two people on the aircraft.

After the first two taxi runs, four journalists disembarked to file their stories.  The remaining twenty eight people stayed on board.  The final taxi run of the day began.  The Hercules picked up speed on the channel facing Cabrillo Beach near Long Beach.  It then took off and stayed in the air, around 70 feet / 21 metres above the water.  It travelled at a speed of 135 mph / 217 km/h / 117 knots for around one mile / 1.6 km.

This flight ended the senate hearings but the Spruce Goose never flew again.  Hughes employed a full time crew of 300 people who kept the aircraft in flying condition in a specially climate controlled hangar.  In 1962 the crew was dropped down to 50.  When Hughes died in 1976, the crew were disbanded.

The Spruce Goose on display

The aircraft was acquired by the California Aero Club in 1980.  They displayed it in a large dome next to the Queen Mary ship in Long Beach.  In 1988, Disney bought the aircraft, the ship and the land they were on.  However, they didn’t wish to display the Spruce Goose.  The California Aero Club searched long and hard for somewhere suitable to display it and eventually passed it to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. Experienced Museum staff took the aircraft to pieces and then moved it by barge to its’ new home in McMinnville, Oregon.  The 1,055 mile trip took 138 days.

Hughes hangars in the movies…

By the middle of the 1990’s, the Hughes Aircraft Hangars, including the one where the Spruce Goose were built, were made into movie sound stages.  The 315,000 square foot / 29,000 metre squared Spruce Goose hangar was used in Titanic, What Women Want and End of Days.

The hangar is preserved in the Playa Vista housing development in Los Angeles, California.  It is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Buildings.

Spruce Goose – success or failure?

Although the aircraft never flew again and didn’t develop beyond the initial model, the H-4 Hercules showed that the principles of flight are not affected by the size of the aircraft.  It was a taste of the enormous aircraft to come, such as the Lockheed C-5.

It was certainly a triumph of the determination of one man to realize a dream.