Crazy aircraft #27 - The Hercules H-4 “Spruce Goose”

Toward the end of World War II, Howard Hughes took an $18 million miltary contract to build a gigantic cargo plane for the Navy. It was made of wood (mostly plywood) because of metal shortages at the end of the war and used eight of the largest pistons engines available (the 28-cylinder Wasp R-4360 engine generating over 3,000 horespower each). The plane was called the Hercules H-4 and dubbed by the media as the “Spruce Goose” because of its wooden construction. One plane was built, and it was flown for one mile to prove that it was airworthy. It is now in a museum. You can see the Spruce Goose in the second half of this video:

Videos are also available here:

The Spruce Goose

And here:

The Spruce Goose Flies

At 319 feet, the wingspan of the Spruce Goose was greater than even the moden Airbus A-380.

[See #26]