Hughes H-4 Hercules is a wooden transport flying boat developed by the American company Hughes Aircraft under the leadership of Howard Hughes. This 136-ton aircraft, originally designated NK-1 and unofficially nicknamed Spruce Goose, was the largest flying boat ever built, and its wingspan is still a record 98 meters. It was designed to carry 750 soldiers fully equipped.
At the beginning of World War II, the US government allocated Hughes $ 13 million to build a prototype of a flying ship, but by the end of hostilities, the aircraft was not ready, due to a shortage of aluminum, as well as Hughes' stubbornness to create a flawless machine. The Hercules aircraft, piloted by Howard Hughes himself, made its first and only flight on November 2, 1947, when it took off to a height of 21 meters and covered approximately two kilometers in a straight line over the harbor of Los Angeles. After long-term storage, the aircraft was sent to the Long Beach Museum, California. It is currently on display at the Evergreen International Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it was moved in 1993. But let's talk about everything in order …
In the initial period of the war, the Allies did not immediately realize what a danger German submarines were. The experience of the First World War was safely forgotten, which entailed simply catastrophic losses in the merchant fleet. If in 1939-1940. the number of ships sunk by the Germans did not go beyond the acceptable norms of losses, then in 1941-1942. The Krigsmarine staged a real terror in the Atlantic. The situation was stabilized only by the end of 1942, and even then, through a global increase in the fleets of covering ships. However, the threat from submarines was not eliminated. In such a situation, a completely predictable option was found - goods can be transferred not only by water, but also by air. The main problem was only that none of the sides at that time had an aircraft with sufficient carrying capacity.
The author of the initial concept of this project was Henry J. Kaiser, a steel industry tycoon, owner of shipyards that produced ships of the Liberty series during World War II. The aircraft was designed and built by Hughes Aircraft: billionaire Howard Hughes and his team.
An order for the construction of a multi-ton wooden amphibious aircraft with a wingspan of almost one hundred meters was received from the American government in 1942. The goal was declared: to build a ship for cargo and passenger transportation in such a way as to spend as little strategic raw materials as possible. That is: the plane was to be made not of metal, but of wood. The aircraft was intended to transport cargo and troops to help warring Europe: the traditional waterway at a certain period of hostilities turned out to be inaccessible due to the powerful development of submarines on the enemy side.
Working documentation was developed quickly enough, which cannot be said about the pace of aircraft construction. Starting in 1943, construction was fully completed in mid-1947. This was influenced by several reasons, ranging from the end of the war (and as a consequence - lack of interest in further work on the NK-1 from the military) and ending with various legal proceedings against Hughes.
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Throughout the implementation of the project, there were disputes about the amount of its financing, and in principle there was no clear opinion about the need for such a project. One of the American senators dissatisfied with the project called the future plane a "flying timber warehouse." However, his most famous nickname is "Spruce Goose".
The aircraft's official name was originally HK-1 (derived from the names Hughes and Kaiser). After the Kaiser abandoned the project in 1944, Hughes renamed the aircraft H-4, and after the first flight changed the tail number from NX37602 to N37602.
This huge flying boat consists of a hull, a cantilever wing and eight radial engines (Pratt & Whitney motors, 3000 hp each). It has vertical and tail assembly, fixed wing floats. The entire structure consisted of glued timber (despite the nickname, birch, not spruce, was used in the construction).
The physical parameters of the amphibious aircraft were as follows:
length - more than 66 meters
height - 24 meters
wingspan - 98 meters
weight - 136 tons
maximum cargo weight - 59 tons
maximum number of passengers - 700 people
Flight characteristics (estimated):
maximum speed - 378 km / h
cruising speed - 282 km / h
flight range - 5634 km
flight altitude - 7165 m
For all its unprecedented size, a crew of only 3 people was required to fly this aircraft.
The hull of the aircraft was divided into two sections: a flight deck for accommodating people and a large cargo hold. For communication between the compartments, spiral staircases are installed. Below the cargo hold were fuel tanks, separated by watertight bulkheads.
Hughes and Kaiser's flying boat was to be the largest aircraft ever built (in fact, it was seven times the size of any aircraft built before it) and became the most amazing aircraft project of all time. Only the courage and dedication of Howard Hughes and his small team of like-minded people allowed to bring the construction to the end, despite everything not giving up their work and still sending the Hercules on its only historic flight.
At some point, the contradictions between the project leaders, Hughes and the Kaiser were clearly outlined: Henry Kaiser suggested limiting ourselves to a 70-ton apparatus in order to meet the deadline and provide the customer with a finished product; however, Hughes insisted on a larger, 200-ton aircraft, which required a much greater investment of time and money. Henry Kaiser refused to further participate in the project, and Howard Hughes became more and more carried away by the idea, making new suggestions and improvements that further delayed the completion of construction.
In 1942, this was an urgent, top-priority order for the US government. By 1944, priorities had changed: due to a change in the situation on world fronts, the state's interest in the project disappeared. The government hoped to cancel the construction contract. But Hughes' motivation by that time had already ceased to be rational: rather, he was seized by the idea of building an air cargo ship, surpassing the most daring human fantasies.
Keeping the entire global project in mind, Hughes did not lose sight of the most subtle details: nothing but his personal eccentricity could explain the need to sit for hours discussing the design of the dashboard. A perfectionist by nature, he still could not decide to recognize the work as perfect, until finally such numerous delays attracted the attention of the Senate: a committee was created to review the current work.
The construction of the aircraft was completed only in 1947: a huge amount of $ 22 million was spent on the project from the US state budget. But this was not the end of it: due to insufficient funding, Howard Hughes spent his own 18 million on the project.
On November 2, 1947, the Hercules was launched and Howard Hughes and his small crew started the engines in test mode. Having made several passes through the water, in front of excited spectators, mostly journalists, who watched the ship's movements, the Hercules pulled away from the surface of Los Angeles harbor, embarking on its first and last, unannounced flight. Hughes himself was at the helm.
At a low altitude, just over 20 meters, the aircraft covered about two kilometers at a speed of about 120 km / h and made a perfect landing. This test launch, carried out by Howard Hughes despite the official ban on lifting the Hercules into the air, was intended to rebuff critics of the project and prove that the largest aircraft in the history of mankind can still fly. This flight is still considered by many to this day as one of the greatest moments in aviation history.
Having completed its historic flight, the Spruce Goose returned to its hangar - a gigantic, specially built room - never to take off again. At the request of Hughes, until his death in 1976, the state of the aircraft was constantly maintained in full "combat readiness", including monthly engine starts.
Over the past 50 years, the aircraft has become one of America's favorite artifacts, moving from the world of the military industry to the category of cultural objects due to its virtual uselessness. Today, his story is seen as an example of unprecedented determination and self-sacrifice. Hughes H-4 Hercules has become one of the symbols of the 20th century.
Actually, Howard Hughes' Hercules was not so useless. This plane, with all its imperfections, was decades ahead of its time, became one of the steps of the technical revolution not only in aviation, but also in engineering in general. He demonstrated the potential capabilities of artificial flying vehicles, largely shaping the modern understanding of the implementation of flights.
After long-term storage at an aeroclub in Southern California, adjacent to the outdated ocean liner Queen Mary, in 1992 the aircraft was transferred to the Evergreen Aviation Museum, a museum for an educational center in Oregon. To this day, it remains the largest man-built aircraft to have taken off.
The most interesting thing is that many of you have seen its prototype. Provided that you've watched the movie Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The creator of Hughes H-4 Hercules, Howard Hughes, who ran his own firm Hughes Aircraft, became the inspiration for the protagonist of The Aviator.
In the world there are aircraft that are longer, there are more carrying capacity, but the Hercules, which made its first flight in 1947, is still unsurpassed in wingspan (97.5 m), and only the newest A-380 was able to match it in height to the tip of the keel. 800.