2 Nov: The Spruce Goose Takes Flight
Howard Hughes – aviator, filmmaker, and all-around eccentric – gathered reporters at Long Beach, California on 2nd November, 1947 to witness his giant seaplane, nicknamed ‘the Spruce Goose’, take flight. For 26 seconds.
Built mostly of birch, the “Goose” was officially called the H-4 Hercules, a flying boat dreamed up during World War II as a way to transport 750 troops or even tanks across the Atlantic, while avoiding Nazi submarines. It was the brainchild of industrialist Henry Kaiser and Hughes, who teamed up in 1942 to build three prototypes. Wartime metal shortages forced them to construct it from laminated wood; although by the time it finally left the water, the war was long over, Kaiser had quit, and Hughes was flying solo – literally and financially.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Hughes came to be defending the project at a U.S. Senate committee; reveal the ‘mad genius’ behaviour that marked him out as one of the most influential tech billionaires of all time; and uncover what happened to the gargantuan Goose after his death in 1976…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Spruce Goose: The All-Wood Plane That Only Flew Once’ (All That’s Interesting, 2024): https://allthatsinteresting.com/spruce-goose
• ’10 amazing facts about Howard Hughes’ (Telegraph, 2017): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/lists/howard-hughes-facts/
• ‘Hughes’ H-4 Hercules Flies!’ (1947):