Today we"re looking back to a time when an eccentric billionaire"s dream of reaching new heights was still a novel idea. It was 75 years ago today that Howard Hughes" "flying boat," dubbed the "Spruce Goose," made its one and only flight. Officially named the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the press persisted in calling it the "Spruce Goose" even though it was constructed almost entirely of birch wood. The plane was commissioned in 1942 by American industrialist Henry Kaiser, who supplied ships to the US during World War II. Kaiser recruited Hughes—the film producer turned pilot, engineer, and business magnate—to build a flying cargo ship that could avoid German submarines while transporting troops and war supplies across the Atlantic. The contract called for three of the planes to be built within two years. Hughes was still working on the design when the war ended—in the end, he delivered only the one in our photo, two years after V-E Day.
75th anniversary of the Spruce Goose
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Spectacular views below!
-
A winter wonderland in Northeast China
-
Aloe in bloom
-
Astrotourism at its finest
-
Coral Reef Awareness Week
-
Mysterious prairie mounds abound
-
What s cuter than nuzzling rhinos?
-
Saksun, Faroe Islands, Denmark
-
World Teachers Day
-
In praise of the old…the very old
-
Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
-
Flamenco dancers
-
In the Garden of Europe
-
Summer winds down in the Hamptons
-
St. Patricks Day
-
Things are looking up
-
All in a day s work
-
50 years of Earth Day
-
A big place to shop small
-
Saskatchewan s spookier side
-
Arbor Day
-
Papa was a flightless bird
-
Humpbacks return to the Inside Passage
-
Welcome to the pack
-
Classical music takes center stage
-
Flocking together in the Antarctic
-
Pride Month
-
Welcome to the Alien Egg Hatchery
-
Cousins Day
-
What the hay?