When the 'Spruce Goose' Took Flight

Howard Hughes' giant wooden seaplane took its first flight 75 years ago.

Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 04:19 PM ET

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November 2, 2022, marks the 75th anniversary of the one and only flight of the Hughes Flying Boat, the so-called 'Spruce Goose.' [Courtesy: Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum Collections]

Key Takeaways:

The Hughes Flying Boat (H-4 Hercules), famously nicknamed "Spruce Goose," was a massive wooden seaplane conceived during World War II by Henry Kaiser and Howard Hughes using non-strategic materials like birch and resin composite.
Despite being completed after the war and facing significant scrutiny, the aircraft made only one flight on November 2, 1947, a 30-second, one-mile hop piloted by Howard Hughes, proving its ability to fly.
The "Spruce Goose" never flew again but remains an engineering marvel, meticulously preserved as the centerpiece of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

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November 2, 2022, marks the 75th anniversary of the one and only flight of the Hughes Flying Boat, the so-called Spruce Goose. The massive machine is the crown jewel of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. The one-of-a-kind aircraft is the centerpiece of the museum in a building that was—quite literally—designed around it. And you better believe the museum is celebrating the 75th anniversary.

The Hughes Flying Boat

The aircraft was first conceived during World War II, when there was a growing need to get men and supplies over to England and Allied ships were being sunk at an alarming rate by German submarines.