The Hughes H-4 Hercules (registration NX37602) is a prototype airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company in the 1940s. It was built from wood, almost entirely of birch, because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum and concerns about weight; the aircraft was nicknamed the “Spruce Goose.” It is the largest flying boat ever built and it had largest wingspan of any aircraft that had ever flown (until the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch first flew on April 13, 2019). The Spruce Goose was intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II; however, it was not completed in time to be used in the war. The aircraft made only one brief flight, on November 2, 1947, in Long Beach, California, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced. It remains in good condition, and it is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. This article from Popular Mechanics was transcribed by yours truly in Anniversary Gregg.
Attachment: 200-tons-and-it-flies.pdf