7 April 2018 - HOWARD HUGHES AND THE BIGGEST (WOODEN) PLANE IN HISTORY

HOWARD HUGHES AND 

THE BIGGEST (WOODEN)

 PLANE IN HISTORY

G'day folks,

This might be very interesting to all you aviation lovers.

 Because of wartime rationing on strategic materials such as aluminium, this plane was built almost entirely out of wood. A skeptical press dubbed it “The Spruce Goose.”

Howard Hughes hated the nickname. He felt it was an insult to the prowess of his engineers, and an inaccurate one at that — the plane was made out of birch.

 Later named the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the airplane is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat, intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II. But it was not completed in time to be used in the war, the aircraft made only one brief flight on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced.

The aircraft is now displayed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, United States and remains in good condition. 

Clancy's comment: I guess you can do almost anything if you have the money. Imagine the skills required by the wood workers.

I'm ....