THE SECOND FLIGHT OF SPRUCE GOOSE
BY MIKE CHALMERS
LOOKING BACK ON THE UNFORGETTABLE TRANSPORT OF THE NATION’S LARGEST WATER PLANE
Photo courtesy of WikiCommons
behemoth ‘Spruce Goose,’ certainly falls into the latter category.
T
Te plane, which was intended for use as a transatlantic flight transport vehicle during World War II, was designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company, but wasn’t completed in time to be used for war. Te War Department needed an aircraft that could cross the Atlantic to Britain with a large payload of personnel and materials. Allied shipping was suffering heavy losses at the time to German U-boats, so an aircraft that could cross the water with a giant payload would prove extremely valuable to the war effort. However, wartime limitations meant the aircraft could not be made of common materials such as aluminum.
here are transport projects, and then there are transport projects. Te dismantling, transporting, and reassembling of Howard Hughes’
Photo courtesy of Peggy Nuetzel WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 23
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