(Download a higher resolution picture by clicking on any
picture below.)
The Hughes Flying Boat
is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.
Late at night on February 10, 1982,
the Hughes Flying Boat is prepared to be lifted from its
temporary storage location onto a barge for transfer to its
display location on Pier J.
Herman the German has lifted Howard
Hughes' Flying Boat off of its support trucks.
The Hughes Flying Boat hangs from
the cables of Herman the German over the harbor in a light
drizzle. Later that night, a barge was maneuvered into position
and the Hughes Flying Boat was placed on it to be floated to Pier
J.
You can buy prints up to 11" by 16" or 5" x 7" greeting cards of this photograph.
The Hughes Flying Boat is barged
across the harbor to its new display location on the morning of
February 11, 1982.
The wing of the Hughes Flying Boat
is as long as a football field.
The Hughes Flying Boat has been
turned around and is being carefully maneuvered into position to
line up with the ramp leading into the dome.
Howard Hughes' Flying Boat is moved
into its new hangar.
The Hughes Flying Boat is rolled
backwards into the dome on Pier J.
The Hughes Flying Boat, seen here
on May 22, 1983, spent a decade on display to the public,
illuminated by a multi-colored light show. It was accompanied by
a replica of the HR-1 racing plane, and a Howard Hughes
look-alike wandered around the dome, greeting visitors.
Close-up of the cockpit of the
Hughes Flying Boat, which was accessible by a raised platform
assembled adjacent to the plane.
Eight 17-foot diameter propellors
powered the Hughes Flying Boat.
The view of the interior of the aft
end of the Hughes Flying Boat resembles the set of the old Time
Tunnel tv series.
On August 10, 1992, disassembly of
the airplane was begun for its transportation to another new home
in Oregon. By September 9, 1992, the propellers, engines, tail
cone, pontoons, wing fairings and tips, elevators, rudder, and
ailerons have been removed from Hughes Flying Boat. Blue sunlight
from an opening in the dome illuminates one side of the airplane.
Large portable light stands were
installed to provide light for the disassembly of the Hughes
Flying Boat.
Seen here bereft of its moving
surfaces, the Hughes Flying Boat would shortly have its wings and
stabilizers removed.
For several years the Hughes Flying
Boat remained disassembled in a shelter in Oregon, awaiting the
opening of the The Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen Aviation
Educational Institute. Photo courtesy Richard Freeman
The components of the Flying Boat were transported to the new museum site in September of 2000. It has been reassembled and is now on display. It has received a new coat of silver paint, so it looks like it did when it made its only flight.
Go to Page 1 of Hughes Flying Boat pictures to review the
extraction of the Flying Boat from its hangar in 1980.
The Hughes Flying Boat
is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.Giant Flying Boats |
||||||
| First Flight | Wing Span | Length | Wing Area | Gross Weight | Engines | |
| Saunders Roe Princess | 1952 |
219ft,06in |
148ft,00in |
5,250 |
330,000 |
10 x 3,500 hp Proteus |
| Hughes Flying Boat | 1947 |
320ft,00in |
218ft,06in |
11,430 |
300,000 |
8 x 3,500hp R4360 |
| Blohm und Voss BV-238 | 1945 |
197ft,05in |
142ft,8in |
3,930 |
176,400 |
6 x BMW 801 |
| Martin JRM Mars | 1942 |
200ft,00in |
117ft,00in |
3,683 |
144,000 |
4 x 2,000 hp R3350 |
| Blohm und Voss BV-222 | 1940 |
150ft,11in |
120ft |
2,744 |
108,000 |
6 x 1,000 hp BMW-Bramo Fafnir 323R |
| Martin PBM Mariner | 1939 |
118ft,00in |
79ft,00in |
1,408 |
41,000 |
2 x 1,700 hp R2800 |
| Boeing 314 | 1938 |
152ft,00in |
106ft,00in |
2,607 |
82,000 |
4 x 1,200 hp R2600 |
| Convair PB2Y Coronado | 1937 |
115ft,00in |
79ft,00in |
1,780 |
63,000 |
4 x 1,000 hp R1830 |
You can buy a 2020 calendar featuring my photographs of Howard Hughes' giant Flying Boat, popularly called the Spruce Goose.
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 Spruce Goose 2020 calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $14.95.
Book about
Howard Hughes giant flying boat available from 
Howard Hughes And His Flying Boat by Charles
Barton
Find all about the
Howard Hughes giant flying boat
at Wikiverse.org.
Link to a page describing the The Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen Aviation Educational Institute 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.
Go to home page of the Goleta Air and Space Museum.