His famous Spruce Goose aircraft was flown only once.

His famous Spruce Goose aircraft was flown only once.

 In 1942, during World War II, Hughes contracted with the U.S. government to design and build an aircraft capable of transporting 700 troops or a load of 60 tons across the Atlantic. Known by various names, including the H-4 Hercules, the Flying Boat and most commonly, the Spruce Goose (a moniker Hughes detested), it had a wingspan of 320 feet and was the largest aircraft ever constructed. However, the war ended before the plane was completed, and in 1947 Hughes was called to testify before a U.S. Senate committee investigating whether he’d misused millions of dollars in government funds on the project. At the hearings, Hughes said of the Spruce Goose: “I put the sweat of my life into this thing. I have my reputation rolled up in it and I have stated several times that if it’s a failure I’ll probably leave this country and never come back. And I mean it.” After testifying in Washington, Hughes was determined to show his massive aircraft could fly, and on November 2, 1947, he piloted its first and only flight. The Spruce Goose (the nickname came from the fact it was constructed of wood due to wartime restrictions on steel and aluminum; however, birch, not spruce, was the primary building material) traveled for a mile about 70 feet above the water at Long Beach, California, before landing. Members of the Senate committee later issued a report criticizing Hughes’ handling of the Spruce Goose project but the document proved inconsequential. After the aircraft’s lone flight, Hughes shelled out millions to keep it in a climate-controlled Long Beach hangar until his 1976 death. It’s now housed at an aviation museum in Oregon.