Howard Hughes Spruce Goose Hercules HK-1 N37602 CN 1 H-4 . Taken at Long Beach , California on February 11 , 1982 .
Howard Hughes`s famous HK-1 Hercules #NX37602 is a cargo-type flying boat designed to transport men and materials over long distances. Originally conceived by Henry J. Kaiser, a steelmaker and builder of Liberty ships, the aircraft was designed and constructed by Hughes and his staff. The original proposal for the enormous, 400,000-pound wooden flying boat, with its spectacular 320-foot wingspan, came from the U.S. government in 1942. The goal was to build a cargo and troop carrier that did not require critical wartime materials; in other words, that substituted wood for metal. Throughout its construction, considerable controversy surrounded its funding. After a disgruntled U.S. Senator dubbed the HK-1 a `flying lumberyard,` the `Spruce Goose` nickname was coined Hughes despised the name!
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