Photos courtesy of Peggy Neutzel
THE WAR DEPARTMENT COMMISSIONED HENRY J. KAISER AND HOWARD HUGHES TO DEVELOP A HERCULEAN AIR VEHICLE DESIGNED TO CARRY 150,000 POUNDS, 750 FULLY EQUIPPED TROOPS, OR TWO 30-TON M4 SHERMAN TANKS.
Photos courtesy of WikiCommons 24
Tey sought a solution in the form of a Te NX37602—a Hughes H-4 Hercules – made predominately out of wood. Te War Department commissioned Henry J. Kaiser, a leading ship builder at the time, and renowned aircraft designer Howard Hughes to develop what would become the largest aircraft built at the time. It would be a herculean air vehicle designed to carry 150,000 pounds, 750 fully equipped troops, or two 30-ton M4 Sherman tanks. Development and design lagged due to Hughes’ insistence on perfection, and construction didn’t even begin for 16 months. At that point, Kaiser – who didn’t have an aeronautical background and had to defer to Hughes much of the time — withdrew from the project out of frustration. As a result of the war ending during the construction delays, the project never went beyond the Spruce Goose. Tough Hughes did take the Goose
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
on one flight, basically to get the media and government off of his back, on November 2, 1947—a one-mile journey 70 feet above the water outside of its hangar in Long Beach, California—the flying boat with the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history never saw the air again. A man of vast resources and wealth, Hughes did,
however, retain a full-time crew of 300 workers to maintain the aircraft in flying condition in its climate-controlled hangar for the next three decades—away from the public eye. Hughes’ company, Summa Corporation, condensed the crew down to 50 workers in 1962, and ultimately dispersed it after Hughes’ death in 1976. Following his passing, Hughes’ great flying boat was
went through three owners: the Summa Corporation, the Aero Club of Southern California, and the Wrather Corporation – which was purchased by Disney in 1988. Four years of existential limbo followed for the H-4, but just when its future seemed like it might involve a graveyard a long search for a suitable host was settled. Michael King Smith and Delford M. Smith, co- founders of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, submitted a winning proposal to provide the Goose with a new home. Te Spruce Goose’s “second flight,” began in the fall of 1992. Te Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum was tasked with the disassembly effort and the accompanying 1,055-mile, 138-day transport from Long Beach to McMinnville via barge, train, and truck.
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