Hughes H-4
| Hughes H-4 Hercules | |
|---|---|
 Hughes H-4 Hercules |
|
| Type: | Transport flying boat |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
November 2, 1947 |
| Commissioning: |
Never put into service |
| Production time: |
Was never mass-produced |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Hughes H-4 Hercules (nickname Spruce Goose ' Spruce Goose ' or 'pretty goose') is a flying boat developed by Hughes-Kaiser and built by Hughes Aircraft Company . In terms of wingspan, it was the largest aircraft ever flown until it was replaced by the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch on April 13, 2019 . Since the only flight of the H-4 took place within the ground effect , its flight ability for higher altitudes has not been proven.
history
Henry J. Kaiser , the manufacturer of the Liberty ships , had the idea of building a fleet of very large flying boats to support the US war effort. He turned to Howard Hughes , whom he was able to win as a partner and who should bring his experience in aircraft construction. Together they founded the Hughes-Kaiser Corporation , which submitted some corresponding designs to the US government and then in November 1942 an order worth 18 million US dollars to build three large flying boats called the HK-1 (Hughes-Kaiser 1 ) received.
An essential requirement of the contract was the use of "non-war-essential materials" and labor. Thus, only the wood construction was possible, although this was breaking new ground, as such a large aircraft had never been built from this material before. That is why the aircraft was nicknamed "Spruce Goose" (in German: "Spruce Goose"). In fact, mainly laminated birch wood in the form of Duramold was used. This process made it possible to produce double-curved surfaces using phenol-formaldehyde resin- soaked plywood, which was pressed into the appropriate shape at high pressure and temperature.
It soon became apparent to Kaiser that his shipbuilding experience and facilities were of little use in building large wooden planes. He then withdrew from the project. The machine, now referred to as the H-4 Hercules, was built in a large, wooden hangar measuring 228 m × 76 m (750 ft × 250 ft). Six million US dollars were spent on fire protection alone. In March 1944, completion was still a long way off, but the planned 18 million US dollars had already been used up, so that the original contract was reduced to an airplane. Even at the end of the war, construction was not yet finished, and Hughes had to spend seven million US dollars from private funds to be able to complete the machine in June 1946.
Another challenge was transporting the H-4 over the 28-mile route from Culver City to Terminal Island (Long Beach), which alone cost $ 55,000. The largest transported sections were the two 48.8 m long wing sections.
On November 1, 1947, the Spruce Goose ( aircraft registration NX 37602) was launched and the first attempts at taxiing were made. She was towed into the open water on November 2, 1947, and Hughes made two fast water trips with journalists from all over the world on board; in a third attempt at 1:40 p.m. the flying boat took off for the first and only time to a flight of 1.5 km in length at a height of 20 m at a speed of about 160 km / h. The aircraft always remained in the area of the increased lift-giving ground effect . Its airworthiness outside of the ground effect has therefore not been proven. The values for wing loading and power loading are partially below those of the somewhat comparable Martin "Mars", which used the same engines, when fully loaded; therefore the calculated values (see “Technical data”) for the flight performance seem realistic.
The flight ship was then mothballed in an air-conditioned hangar in Long Beach, according to Hughes' instructions being kept in an airworthy condition and even the engines being warmed up once a month. Only after the death of Hughes could the flying ship be made accessible to the public. A gigantic round dome hangar was built for this. From 1981 to 1992 the H-4 Hercules served as an exhibition piece in the port of Long Beach together with the large transatlantic liner RMS Queen Mary . The flying boat has been in the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville , Oregon since 1992 .
Until 2017, this aircraft had the largest wingspan and the largest wing area of all aircraft built to date. The Spruce Goose was the first aircraft with fully hydraulically powered control surfaces.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data (the performance data are calculated values) |
|---|---|
| length | 66.74 m |
| span | 97.51 m |
| height | 25.15 m |
| Wing area | 1061.80 m² |
| Wing loading | 124 kg / m² with 10 t payload - 170 kg / m² with full payload * |
| Elongation | 9 |
| drive | eight 28-cylinder multiple radial engines Pratt & Whitney R- 4360-4A with 2240 kW (3040 PS) each |
| Power load | 5.45 kg / PS with 10 t payload, 7.94 kg / PS with full payload * |
| propeller | Hamilton Standard four-blade variable pitch propeller with a diameter of 5.23 m |
| (Planned) top speed | 378 km / h at sea level |
| (Planned) cruising speed | 320 km / h |
| (Planned) range | 4827 km |
| (Planned) service ceiling | 6370 m |
| Empty mass | approx. 122,500 kg |
| Flight mass | approx. 181,500 kg |
| capacity | 18 men crew, up to 750 passengers |
Compare see: Martin JRM "Mars"
- Wing loading: 129 kg / m² with 10 t payload - 218 kg / m² with full payload.
- Power load: 6.14 kg / PS with full load
Appear in public media
- In the movie Rocketeer (1991): The main character, Cliff Secord, escapes the FBI from Howard Hughes ' house by sailing outside on a model airplane. The model depicts the Spruce Goose , a gigantic airplane built by Hughes that was said to never fly. This is the background to the ironic end of the shot, when Hughes says, looking at the model that is flying away: "It does fly!" ("The damn thing is flying!")
- In the movie Aviator (2004).
- In the film Rules Don't Matter (2016) about Howard Hughes' late life
- In the TV series Leverage , Season 5 , Episode 1 - The (Very) Big Bird Job .
- The Spruce Goose appears in the video game Crimson Skies .
- In the cartoon series Käpt'n Balu and his daring crew , the Spruce Goose made an appearance in the episode "Balu, der Partyschreck". It appears here under the name "Spruce Moose".
- In the animated series The Simpsons , the Spruce Goose made an appearance in the episode "Obsessed by the Devil" (season 5, episode 10). It appears here under the name "Spruce Moose" (In the German translation "Fichtenelch")
- In the video game LA Noire , the Spruce Goose makes a brief appearance in the opening sequence. You can also examine them in the DLC (“Downloadable Content”) “Nicholson Galvanization”.
- In the US Disney Channel cartoon series Phineas and Ferb , the Spruce Goose makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the episode The Paper Pelican . Their impressive size led Phineas and Ferb to construct an even larger airplane out of paper mache - the paper pelican. As a small homage to the Spruce Goose, the maiden flight of Phineas and Ferb's paper pelican ends with a landing on the water.
More large flying boats
See also
literature
- Andreas Spaeth: Lifted off. In: mare No. 104, June / July 2014.
- Hughes H-4 Hercules Flying Boat. N37602 (preservation profile). In: Airplane Monthly, May 1982, p. 266 f.
Web links
- Evergreen Aviation Museum
- Federal archive : Video The largest airplane in the world (1:36, contribution from Welt in Film 132/1947 from December 5, 1947)
Coordinates: 45 ° 12 '15 " N , 123 ° 8' 43" W.