This is the one and only Hughes H-4 Hercules seaplane, one of the largest aircraft ever flown. It is more commonly known as the “Spruce Goose”, a nickname the designer of the plane, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, despised. A few years ago the plane, which had been on display inside a dome in Long Beach, California for many years, was purchased by Evergreen International and was moved to a permanent home here.
FUN FACTS:
The plane only actually flew one time, on November 2, 1947. It was in the air for little over a mile reaching an altitude of 70 feet, and the flight lasted about a minute.
The plane cost $ 25 million to build. Most of it came from the government but Hughes also ponied up $ 7 million of his own money.
It has 8 propellers, 4 on each side.
There were beach balls placed at the bottom of the hull and in the wing floats to provide additional bouyancy in the event of an accident.
It is actually constructed mostly of birch, not spruce (although there was a little of bit of spruce used). The material is called Duramold and was made by glueing together laminated layers of birch veneer.
When preparing the wood, millions of nails (weighing 7 tons) were used to hold the assemblies in place until the glue dried. All those nails were then removed.
Crew members stood inside the wings (which are so big they could stand upright) to observe the 8 engines during the lone flight.
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