The history of aviation is full of famous planes. For better or worse, planes like the Spirit of St. Louis, the Enola Gay and the Southern Cross are landmark machines in the evolution of the flying machine. But few vehicles loom larger in popular culture (or indeed reality) than the epic H-4 Hercules, popularly known as the Spruce Goose. With a wingspan measuring an incredible 97.5 metres across, the H-4 Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built, and a result of the passion (some would say obsession) of aviator, engineer, film director and billionaire Howard Hughes. Originally conceived as a World War II heavy-lift transport, delays meant that the plane wasn’t completed until after the war ended. But the scale of the H-4 Hercules cannot be understated. In addition to its massive wingspan, the tail was as tall as an eight-storey building, and powered by eight radial Pratt & Whitney engines generating 24,000 horsepower required to lift the 400,000 pound, fully loaded plane. What’s even more remarkable is that, to keep the weight down, the entire plane was built around a birch (not spruce) frame. Numerous other innovations were developed to deal with the scale of the Spruce Goose, including…
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