Nov. 2, 1947 - the only flight of the Spruce Goose

[WebbPA]

Link

"The Spruce Goose, with Hollywood producer-aviator-tycoon Howard Hughes at the controls, makes its first -- and only -- flight, skimming the waters of Long Beach Harbor in California for roughly one minute.

That short hop, made mostly for the benefit of the press and newsreel cameras, was the climax of a story that began more than five years earlier, at the height of World War II.

Appalled at the heavy toll being taken on Allied shipping by the German U-boats, Henry J. Kaiser, builder of the Liberty ships, proposed a fleet of gigantic flying transports to move men and material across the Atlantic. After Kaiser enlisted Hughes' support, the two men sold their idea to the government and walked away with an $18 million contract (about $238 million in today's money) to build three flying boats ...

Because of restrictions on the use of materials deemed critical to the war effort, Hughes built the prototype, HK-1, not out of steel or aluminum but of wood. And while the seaplane would become known worldwide as the Spruce Goose (a name Hughes despised), it was made largely of birch, not spruce ..."

Ah, government contracts.

[H]

While the seaplane would become known worldwide as the Spruce Goose (a name Hughes* despised), it was made largely of birch, not spruce ..."

He may have liked an alternative nickname even less: transporting troops it could well have been called the Birch Perch.

*amongst the many things we do not share are our middle initials.
You've also reminded me to do a quick e-mail to my uncle -- today's his birthdate.

8-)

[beaky]

Actually, it was just a taxi test, and Hughes was forbidden, officially, to let it get airborne. But between the all-out assault on his and the design's reputation due to delays in the project and the understandable urge to just fly the damn thing, he made a very characteristic decision to go for it.
He paid a lot of money to keep it airworthy for many years after that, but it never flew again... I guess he'd made his point.

[DaveSims]

I've always wondered whether if it would really fly or was just hanging in ground effect.  Guess we'll never know.

[beaky]

I've always wondered whether if it would really fly or was just hanging in ground effect.  Guess we'll never know.

The experts say there's no reason it couldn't fly as it was designed to do... certainly as lightly loaded as it was for that test.
Remember- even though it was big and heavy, that plane had a very nice wing and eight Wasp Majors, each capable of 3000 hp!! They look small on that plane, but those "corncobs" are huge!!

The only problems discovered on that test flight was some unexpected vibration in the tail section, which probably could have been worked out.

[DaveSims]

 
The experts say there's no reason it couldn't fly as it was designed to do... certainly as lightly loaded as it was for that test.
Remember- even though it was big and heavy, that plane had a very nice wing and eight Wasp Majors, each capable of 3000 hp!! They look small on that plane, but those "corncobs" are huge!!

The only problems discovered on that test flight was some unexpected vibration in the tail section, which probably could have been worked out.

The vibration was 8 3000 hp engines at full power.

[beaky]

 
The experts say there's no reason it couldn't fly as it was designed to do... certainly as lightly loaded as it was for that test.
Remember- even though it was big and heavy, that plane had a very nice wing and eight Wasp Majors, each capable of 3000 hp!! They look small on that plane, but those "corncobs" are huge!!

The only problems discovered on that test flight was some unexpected vibration in the tail section, which probably could have been worked out.

The vibration was 8 3000 hp engines at full power.

No, it was aerodynamic, I think...probably caused flexing and twisting of the aft fuselage or something. I'm sure there would be a way to stiffen it without making it too heavy back there... why they never did that, I don't know.
 But those Hughes guys knew what they were doing when it came to conventional stuff like mounting engines, and those were probably the best-matched, mounted and tuned eight engines of type on the planet at the time, so I doubt they were the source of the problem.

That beast was so large and so massive you probably couldn't tell the engines were running if you were in the tail!

[homebrewer]

I would love to have this plane in my simhangar. I found the download, but it does not work...