Spruce Goose /H-4“The aircraft made only one brief flight, on...

Spruce Goose /H-4

“The aircraft made only one brief flight, on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced.

.. a new government contract that now limited production to one example. Work proceeded slowly, and the H-4 was not completed until well after the war was over.

Hughes said:

“The Hercules was a monumental undertaking. It is the largest aircraft ever built. It is over five stories tall with a wingspan longer than a football field. That's more than a city block. Now, I put the sweat of my life into this thing. I have my reputation all rolled up in it and I have stated several times that if it's a failure, I'll probably leave this country and never come back. And I mean it.”

… After picking up speed on the channel facing Cabrillo Beach, the Hercules lifted off, remaining airborne for 26 seconds at 70 ft (21 m)…

… The H-4 never flew again. Its lifting capacity and ceiling were never tested. Afterwards a full-time crew of 300 workers, all sworn to secrecy, maintained the aircraft in flying condition in a climate-controlled hangar….”

…. By the mid-1990s, the former Hughes Aircraft hangars at Hughes Airport, including the one that held the Hercules, were converted into sound stages.”

There is hope for those expensive sheds at Kachi…. Taco Bell?

DYOR