The Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the "Spruce Goose"; registration NX37602) is a prototype heavy transport aircraft designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft company. The aircraft made its first and only flight on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced. Built from wood because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum and concerns about weight, its critics nicknamed it the "Spruce Goose," despite it being made almost entirely of birch rather than spruce. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history. It survives in good condition at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, USA.
Read more about Hughes H-4 Hercules: Design and Development, Operational History, Display, Specifications (H-4), Notable Appearances in Media
Famous quotes containing the words hughes and/or hercules:
“There is no reason for any suggestion that Mr. Hughes would resign, nor is there any reason for the suggestion that Mr. Mellon would resign, if either of them did not get exactly what they wanted from Congress; and I am not going to resign because I don’t get what I want.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,
When in a wood of Crete they bayed the bear
With hounds of Sparta: never did I hear
Such gallant chiding; for besides the groves,
The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seemed all one mutual cry. I never heard
So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)