The aircraft had many detractors, and Congress demanded that Hughes prove the plane airworthy. Thousands of onlookers had come to watch the aircraft taxi on the water and were surprised when Hughes lifted his wooden behemoth 70 feet above the water and flew for a mile before landing.
Despite its successful maiden flight, the Spruce Goose never went into production, primarily because critics alleged that its wooden framework was insufficient to support its weight during long flights. Nevertheless, Howard Hughes, who became increasingly eccentric and withdrawn after , refused to neglect what he saw as his greatest achievement in the aviation field.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! On November 2, , the Chicago Cubs win their first World Series championship since , beating the Cleveland Indians, , in a thrilling Game 7 delayed by rain.
On November 2, , the first residential crew arrives aboard the International Space Station. The arrival of Expedition 1 marked the beginning of a new era of international cooperation in space and of the longest continuous human habitation in low Earth orbit, which continues On November 2, , a truck explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing an estimated 3, people, mostly Soviet soldiers traveling to Kabul.
In one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history, Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats his Republican challenger, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, by just over two million popular votes. In the days preceding the vote, political analysts and polls were Martin Luther King, Jr. The aircraft was supposed to be the first of a fleet of planes that would carry troops during World War II.
But the war ended before the first plane was completed. The Spruce Goose--a name Hughes hated--flew only once. Hughes flew it for about one mile before splashing down in the ocean. After that, the plane remained in a hangar for years. In , the Wrather Corp. Wrather placed the plane under a giant dome next to the Queen Mary and opened it as an attraction. Disney began managing both attractions in , when it bought out the Wrather Corp. While the future of the Spruce Goose has been decided, the fate of the Queen Mary remains uncertain.
The Port of Long Beach, which owns the stately ship that has become a symbol for the city, began last week to solicit potential buyers or managers. In recent months, more than 40 companies and individuals have expressed an interest in the ship that has been docked in Long Beach for 25 years. The H-4 dominates the expansive hangar while other aircraft sit under its foot meter wings, looking almost like toys. I barely remember it, but standing under the wing it's like I'm a kid again.
I took the guided tour of the Goose's interior, snapped lots of photos, asked lots of questions, and even recorded this sweet video from the cockpit:. Evergreen is no one-trick goose, er, pony. Immaculate aircraft from every decade of flight fill two massive hangars, plus several aircraft outside. Across the parking lot, past the theater building, is the museum's collection of more modern aircraft: an SR Blackbird, A Warthog, MiG and a multitude of helicopters.
Going a bit higher and faster, the "space" part of the museum includes a Titan missile, X experimental re-entry vehicle, and several replicas of Apollo-era landers and modules. The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum has many of my favorite aircraft, and all in excellent shape. I wish you could go inside more of them, but that's an expensive proposition, given the wear and tear this would inevitably cause to these classic aircraft.
The Evergreen is also one of the more expensive museums I've toured. Given the size and variety at the museum, however, I felt I got my money's worth.
If you have limited time in the area, you could spend the morning checking out the ghosts of blimps past at Tillamook Air Museum , and do Evergreen in the afternoon, as I did, for a day of amazing aviation history.
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