Howard Hughes' giant Flying Boat - Popularly called the Spruce Goose
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Howard Hughes' giant Flying Boat is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

During world War 2, a consortium was formed by Howard Hughes and Henry Kaiser to create a giant, wooden, flying boat transport. The airplane was designated HK-1 for the Hughes-Kaiser consortium. After Henry Kaiser left the project the designation of the wooden aircraft was changed to H-4.  Later, a contest held among Hughes Aircraft employees produced the name Hercules.  Hughes did not like the name Hercules, nor did he appreciate the phrase Spruce Goose. He always referred to the airplane as the Flying Boat.

The wooden buildings in which its components were constructed were the largest in the world at the time. They still stand at the old Hughes Airport property.

Most of the wood used in the construction of the Flying Boat was Birch. The nails used to hold its wooden components in place were removed once the glue set.

Considerable controversy surrounded its funding. The government funded the original project, which called for one prototype Flying Boat and the production of two additional aircraft.  The original government contract budgeted $18 million for three aircraft; however Hughes infused $7 million of his own capital into the project. Only one flying boat was completed. It was flown once in 1947, then it was returned to its hangar, where it remained for thirty-three years. It was carefully stored, maintained almost as an active aircraft until 1980. Each month its engines were run up. An extensive air conditioning system maintained a carefully controlled environment for the wooden behemoth.

The Flying Boat was removed from its hangar on October 29, 1980. For two days it floated in Los Angeles Harbor before it was lifted onto a temporary storage area on shore. On February 10, 1982 it was lifted from its storage location onto a barge. The next morning it was floated across the harbor to a giant geodesic dome to be displayed by the Wrather Corporation.

The hangar housing Howard Hughes' giant Flying Boat still stood in July 1980. The airplane had narrowly escaped being distributed to nine air museums when Wrather Corporation purchased it with the intent of creating a tourist attraction adjacent to the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor.

The Hughes Flying Boat suffered damage when the original hangar flooded in September 1953. This larger hangar was constructed around the Flying Boat.

Watch for this picture to appear in the History Channel production Man, Moment, Machine.

Much of the hangar of the Hughes Flying Boat was removed by October 26, 1980 in preparation for floating the airplane out of the building. Wrather corporation had ordered that large plastic tarps be hung in front of the Flying Boat to obstruct the view of bay tour boats. Ducting can be seen for the air conditioning system that kept the environment of the Flying Boat within a narrow temperature range.

The vertical stabilizer of the Hughes Flying Boat can be seen protruding from the partially disassembled hangar on the morning of October 29, 1980.

Subsidence resulting from the extraction of petroleum from the area had lowered the hangar to the point that the floating of the Flying Boat had to be timed to coincide with low tide to allow the tail to clear the hangar roof.

October 29, 1980, the Hughes Flying Boat floats out of its hangar for the first time since 1947.

Howard Hughes' Flying Boat emerges from its hangar after thirty-three years. This picture will also appear in the History Channel production Man, Moment, Machine.

You can buy prints up to 11" by 16" or 5" x 7" greeting cards of this photograph.

Since its only flight, the Hughes Flying Boat has had R-4360-TSB-3G engines of increased horespower installed, been painted white, and its registration has been changed from NX37602 to N37602.

Howard Hughes' Flying Boat floating in Los Angeles Harbor.

You can buy prints up to 11" by 16" or 5" x 7" greeting cards of this photograph.

The HK-1 Hercules waits while cranes are moved into place to pick up its cradle from the now flooded hangar.

You can buy prints up to 11" by 16" or 5" x 7" greeting cards of this photograph.

The Flying Boat continues to wait as one of the cranes breaks through the hangar floor and sinks into the saturated ground underneath.

This view of the Hughes Flying Boat shows how aerodynamically clean the design of its fuselage was.

Herman the German, a four hundred ton capacity crane seized from Germany at the end of World War 2, is on hand to lift the Hughes Flying Boat out of the water and set her onshore to be stored for the next year.

A nervous group confers on the wing of the Hughes Flying Boat at sunset. The plan had not included leaving the wooden hull in the water overnight.

Sunlight glints from the wings of the Hughes Flying Boat on the morning of October 30, 1980. The flying boat's cradle has been recovered and is suspended from Herman the German.

The cradle of the Hughes Flying Boat has been set on the floor of the harbor. The Flying Boat has been floated into place.

Later in the afternoon, as scuba divers are attaching the cradle to the cables of the crane, a Lykes Lines cargo ship enters the harbor beyond the Hughes Flying Boat.

You can buy prints up to 11" by 16" or 5" x 7" greeting cards of this photograph.

Herman the German lifted the Hughes Flying Boat onshore during the night. It is seen here sitting on its cradle on the morning of October 31, 1980. A protective cover was placed over it, and it waited something over a year for its new display location on Pier J to be prepared.

Page 2, The Flying Boat gets a new home:

Go to Page 2 of Flying Boat pictures for the history of the Flying Boat from 1982 onward.

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Spruce Goose: Howard Hughes Giant Flying Boat

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Howard Hughes' giant Flying Boat, the Spruce Goose, floated out of the hangar it resided inside for thirty-three years into Los Angeles Harbor on October 29, 1980. It took two days to pick it up with Herman the German and place it on land for temporary storage. On February 10, 1982, it was lifted onto a barge for transportation to the geodesic dome where it was displayed to the public for eleven years.

Put a copy of the

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Howard Hughes And His Flying Boat by Charles Barton

Links:

Find all about the Howard Hughes giant flying boat at Wikiverse.org.

Link to a page describing the Evergreen Aviation Museum which is restoring the Hughes Flying Boat for display in McMinnville, Oregon.

Barrett Hochaus built a radio-controlled model of Howard Hughes giant Flying Boat, popularly known as the Spruce Goose, with a wing span of nearly ten feet. It is powered by four electric motors. Despite its large size, it wieghs less than seven pounds. It made its maiden flight at the Gilbert Rodeo Grounds on Saturday, January 22, 2011.

Send a message to Brian.