Hughes H-4 Hercules

In 1942, the U.S. War Department needed to transport war materiel and personnel to Britain. Allied shipping in the Atlantic Ocean was suffering heavy losses to German U-boats, so a requirement was issued for an aircraft that could cross the Atlantic with a large payload. Wartime priorities meant the aircraft could not be made of strategic materials (e.g., aluminum). The aircraft was the brainchild of Henry J. Kaiser, a leading Liberty ship builder and manufacturer. Kaiser teamed with aircraft designer Howard Hughes to create what would become the largest aircraft yet built. It was designed to carry , 750 fully equipped troops or two 30-ton M4 Sherman tanks. The original designation "HK-1" reflected the Hughes and Kaiser collaboration. and called for three aircraft to be constructed in two years for the war effort. Seven configurations were considered, including twin-hull and single-hull designs with combinations of four, six, and eight wing-mounted engines. The final design chosen was a behemoth, eclipsing any large transport then built. It would be built mostly of wood to conserve metal (its elevators and rudder were fabric-covered), and was nicknamed the Spruce Goose (a name Hughes disliked) or the Flying Lumberyard. Construction of the first HK-1 took place 16 months after the receipt of the development contract. Kaiser then withdrew from the project. Hughes continued the program on his own under the designation H-4 Hercules, signing 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. The plane was built by the Hughes Aircraft Company at Hughes Airport, location of present-day Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California, employing the plywood-and-resin "Duramold" process The specialized wood veneer was made by Roddis Manufacturing in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Hamilton Roddis had teams of young women ironing the (unusually thin) strong birch wood veneer before shipping to California. A house moving company transported the airplane on streets to Pier E (now Pier T) in Long Beach, California. They moved it in three large sections: the fuselage, each wing—and a fourth, smaller shipment with tail assembly parts and other smaller assemblies. After Hughes Aircraft completed final assembly, they erected a hangar around the flying boat, with a ramp to launch the H-4 into the harbor. In all, development cost for the plane reached $23 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|23|1947 ==Operational history==

Hughes returned to California during a break in the Senate hearings to run taxi tests on the H-4. Four reporters left to file stories after the first two taxi runs while the remaining press stayed for the final test run of the day. After picking up speed on the channel facing Cabrillo Beach, the Hercules lifted off, remaining airborne for 26 seconds at off the water at a speed of for about one mile (1.6 km). At this altitude, the aircraft still experienced ground effect. To Hughes, these tests demonstrated that the now-unneeded plane was flight-worthy, and thus worth the use of government funds. The H-4 never flew again after its first test flight. Because World War II had ended, the military no longer needed it to carry troops or equipment across the ocean. 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. The company reduced the crew to 50 workers in 1962 and then disbanded it after Hughes' death in 1976. ==Display==

parked beneath its wing shows the scale of the H-4. Ownership of the H-4 was disputed by the U.S. government, which had contracted for its construction. In the mid-1970s, an agreement was reached whereby the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum would receive the Hughes H-1 Racer and section of the H-4's wing, the Summa Corporation would pay $700,000 and receive ownership of the H-4, the U.S. government would cede any rights, and the aircraft would be protected "from commercial exploitation." A plan to dismantle the aircraft and offer portions of it to various museums was put forward in May 1980. A group called the Committee to Save the Hughes Flying Boat was formed to prevent this and the following week Los Angeles County announced that it wanted it to be displayed intact. in Long Beach in transport near the Willamette Falls Locks on its way to McMinnville, Oregon in 1992. In 1980, the H-4 was acquired by the Aero Club of Southern California, which later put the aircraft on display in a very large geodesic dome next to the Queen Mary ship exhibit in Long Beach, California. The large dome facility became known as the Spruce Goose Dome. The very large enclosed indoor dome area around the H-4 consisted of meeting and special event space, elaborate audio-visual displays about Howard Hughes and the aircraft itself, and dining areas for tourists. Many convention groups held large dinners, sales meetings, and even concerts under the wings of the aircraft at night when the Spruce Goose Dome was closed to tourists. In 1986, a secondary simulator-style attraction named Time Voyager was constructed next to the H-4, at a cost of $2.5 million (~$ in ). In 1988, The Walt Disney Company acquired both Long Beach attractions and the associated Long Beach real estate by Pier J. In 1991, Disney informed the Aero Club of Southern California that it no longer wished to display the Hercules aircraft after its highly ambitious Port Disney plan was scrapped. After a long search for a suitable host, the Aero Club of Southern California arranged for the Hughes Hercules flying boat to be given to Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in exchange for payments and a percentage of the museum's profits. The aircraft was transported by barge, train, and truck to its current home in McMinnville, Oregon (about southwest of Portland), where it was reassembled by Contractors Cargo Company and is currently on display. The aircraft arrived in McMinnville on February 27, 1993, after a 138-day, trip from Long Beach. The Spruce Goose geodesic dome is now used by Carnival Cruise Lines as its Long Beach terminal. By the mid-1990s, the former Hughes Aircraft hangars at Hughes Airport, including the one that held the Hercules, were converted into sound stages. Scenes from movies such as Titanic, What Women Want and End of Days have been filmed in the aircraft hangar where Howard Hughes created the flying boat. The hangar will be preserved as a structure eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in what is today the large light industry and housing development in the Playa Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles. It has since been converted to office and event space by Google. ==Specifications (H-4)==

Performance specifications are projected. engine ==Notable appearances in media==