by TommyJo » Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:06 am
In the history of aviation, there was an even larger aircraft, but it made only one test flight at an altitude of 21 meters and a length of about 1.5 km. We are talking about the Hughes H-4 Hercules, a giant flying boat built in 1947 by the ingenious (and insane) American aviator and businessman Howard Hughes.
The 8-engine monster, created by Hughes, 66.6 meters long with a wingspan of 97.5 meters, was conceived as a means of transporting goods, military equipment (with a total weight of about 70 tons), and up to 750 soldiers across the Atlantic from the United States to Europe. The project started in 1942 with the money of the American government, but its implementation was delayed for five long years. So the Second World War ended, but the megalodon still did not take off.
In the end, this alerted the American government and Congress, under the pressure of which Howard Hughes made a test flight on November 2, 1947, near the California city of San Pedro. First and last flight. Until Hughes' death in 1976, the Hercules was kept in flight condition, and then changed hands, until finally, it ended up in the aviation museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it is located to this day - When you will be in Oregon, be sure to check it out.