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The Hughes H-4 flying boat, also known as the “Spruce Goose,” was designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company as an ultra-large, transoceanic military transport for use during World War II. The massive flying boat was the largest all-wood airplane built. It was intended to transport as many as 750 troops to the European or Pacific theaters and avoid the submarines that were sinking hundreds of transport ships during the war. It was actually constructed primarily of birch due to restrictions on the use of aluminum during the war, and weight concerns for such a large aircraft. Numerous delays prevented it from being completed before the end of the war. Its first and only brief flight was conducted #onthisday in 1947, off the coast of San Pedro, California, with Howard Hughes at the controls, David Grant as copilot, and numerous engineers, flight crew, and representatives from the press on board. The only one of its kind ever built, the prototype now resides on display in the Evergreen Aviation Museum in Oregon. See "Aviation Evolutions: The Jim Lund 1:72 Scale Model Airplane Collection", which features more than 200 models, on display, pre-security, in the Aviation Museum. http://bit.ly/AviationEvolutions This image was posted on November 02, 2018.

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This post mentions the following things involved with the SFO Museum collection: