HOWARD HUGHES FLYING BOAT "THE SPRUCE GOOSE"
HISTORICAL MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING LANDMARK
HUGHES FLYING BOAT ("THE SPRUCE GOOSE")
CONSTRUCTED: 1943-1946 ASSEMBLED: 1946-1947
DESIGNED AND BUILT BY HUGHES AIRCRAFT CO., THIS IS THE LARGEST WOOD-CONSTRUCTED AND THE LARGEST WINGSPAN AIRPLANE EVER BUILT. ORIGINALLY DESIGNATED THE HK-1 IN 1942, IT WAS DESIGNED TO MEET THE WARTIME TROOP AND MATERIAL TRANSPORTATION NEEDS. LAMINATED WOOD (MOSTLY BIRCH) FORMS THE AIRFRAME AND SURFACE STRUCTURES OF THE SEAPLANE, MINIMIZING THE USE OF CRITICAL WAR MATERIALS LIKE ALUMINUM. IT WAS POWERED BY EIGHT PRATT AND WHITNEY 3,000 HORSEPOWER ENGINES. HOWARD HUGHES PILOTED THE FLYING BOAT ON ITS ONLY FLIGHT, NOVEMBER 2, 1947, IN LONG BEACH HARBOR, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. THE FLIGHT COVERED APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE AND REACHED AN ALTITUDE OF APPROXIMATELY 70 FEET ABOVE THE WATER'S SURFACE.