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A Jubilant Tomaso Flying the Spruce
Goose Aeroplane, replete with Howard Hughes "original" (NOT!) Fedora
Hat jauntily on. (The Tomaso Collection)
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Although knowing of its existence in nearby Oregon
for years, it took a 23yr old Book to push me towards insisting on finally
visiting thou Behemoth...
Yeah I know, it's only Mwah who continuously
marvels in thou Seas 'O Synchronicity that constantly Soak thoust upon Thy
mythical Isle 'O Nofendersville, but Alas Mateys!
As I still quite clearly remember my
Debutante trek to Thee Valley of The Sun some forty years ago in the summer of
1979, appropriately flying onboard what Tomas Senior, A.k.a. Pops' has
instilled in Ye Memory Banks forever as Hughes AerWorst! Aka Hughes Airwest.
As I not only still recall the Airlines
bright Banana Yellow paint scheme, but more vividly as a Wee lad' walking down
the Boeing 727's rear "Air Stairs" out into a Blast Furnace onto the
baking Hot Tarmac of Phoenix's Sky Harbour Airport and having to walk to the
nearby terminal in the middle of Gory Summer! Probably sometime in June, as
welcome to Arizona; SHEISA!
Thus I found it quite Karmic that last Fall,
40yrs later I'd be not only stepping foot upon another Hughes Aeroplane, but
one that's recaptured my imagination after listening to a 1996 book via 'Ol
School CD Audiobook format upon thou late Howard Hughes. Thus rekindling my
infatuation with his most abstentious creation.
As History denotes, on November 2, 1947
Hughes took the world's largest Aeroplane then, originally designated the HK1
Hercules, then subsequently the H4 Hercules which is better known by its
nickname The Spruce Goose out for two taxi tests in Long Beach, CA. Before a
lone reporter "Ridin' Shotgun" described the History making moments,
when on his third "Taxi" test, Howard took the Spruce Goose Airborne,
flying at an altitude of 70-feet for just one mile, and the rest is History...
So it was quite funny, that after paying for
my "cockpit tour," as we stepped nearby the massive Flying Boat's
entrance early, and having been warned about the stairs being difficult to
climb. I could hear said Cashier talking with the Aeroplane's Docents via
Walkie Talkie 'bout a Blind Man wanting to go up into the Cockpit and she
didn't know if it was a good idea or not?
Hence, asking the two skeptical Docents Unhand
if there was a railing? They told F1 Florencian Spotter, Chauffer and Travel
Guide Jeannie, she should check-it out to see what she thought about my
attempting to go "Upstairs."
Although Jeannie assured them it would be No
Problema for Mwah, they convinced her to accompany me, which she did
reluctantly, but did so Thankfully, in order to provide me with a bevy 'O
pictures, not to mention witnessing my absolute Delight over this visit!
As there's a very narrow, small width and
fairly steep Spiral Staircase with minimal handrail one must navigate in order
to get upstairs to where the plane's cockpit is situated.
And after I used the railing as much as
possible, albeit some portions are missing due to other portions of the
Aeroplane's structure intruding, I made it fairly "Easy-Peasy" to the
astonishment of the two Docents, who shortly became my two newest "Best
Friends!"
As their names were Bruce and Jules, and
Bruce simply gushed the entire time of my visit exclaiming I Don't think we've
ever had a Blind Person Up here before! And he simply couldn't get over how
easily I'd climbed the staircase unassisted, except for Jeannie behind Mwah and
Bruce above giving me verbal instructions.
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Spiral stairs going down
to Main Deck. (floor)
The very tight, confining Spiral
Staircase needed to reach the Cockpit & Upper Cabin. (The Tomaso
Collection)
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Our Cockpit tour was only supposed to be the
normally allotted 15mins, and presumably Self-guided. since in the middle of my
tour, I heard the next group go around me, the man Smack his Head upon the low
Cockpit ceiling! Arse-sumedly for a Selfie' moment? And then Depart past us -
while we were still upstairs.
As our two wonderful Docents quickly became
known to Mwah as Bruce "The Talking Encyclopedia! and Jules the Quiet One,
since he basically let Bruce run the show.
With Bruce being an Amazing Dearth 'O
Knowledge, talking non-stop for which I simply couldn't keep-up with his
Free-flowing encyclopedic knowledge of this amazing Flying Boat. And I was only
able to Jot down some preliminary Notes upon returning home from my Glorious
visit!
Bruce claimed to have talked to the very man
who produced the actual Hamilton Standard propellers, noting he was the same
person who was responsible for Hughes XF-11 counter-rotating propellers. And
saying that Hughes ran the XF-11 out of Oil by staying up too long when he almost
perilously Crashed!
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View of Left Hand Wing from the
Rear showing the Four Pratt & Whitney R4360 Wasp Major' 28 cylinder Radial
engines.
(The Tomaso Collection)
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The Spruce Goose, reputedly a nickname Hughes
Detested, was propelled by eight Pratt & Whitney R4360 Wasp Major engines.
Each being a Radial Four-row 28 Cylinder Supercharged Behemoth! With 56
sparkplugs and originally rated at 3,000 Horsepower.
After sitting in the pilot's seat in the cockpit,
fingering the marvelously small, lightweight eight throttle controls and
pretending to be Messer Hughes... Walking Aft on the Upper Deck past the sparse
Engineering Station and small passenger area, we continued walking Aft.
As Jules took my White Cane and tapped it
lightly upon the 281 gallon reserve Oil Tank, hanging from the ceiling inside
the fuselage. Which Bruce said could fill each of the eight monstrous Wasp
Major engines once apiece. With each consuming 31 gallons; Aye Karumba!
Bruce said he'd been stationed at McCord
during Korea and was quite accustomed to the sounds and smells of a "4360"
engine.
Having seen time on the C-124 Globemaster II.
Which were legendous' for being very sloppy lumps! If an R4360 wasn't leaking
oil then it wasn't performing correctly Bruce noted!
The P & W 4360 was also used upon the
Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser, the B-50 Superfortress and Convair B-36 to name
a few aircraft variants. As the B-36 during its Day sported the largest
Wingspan at 230-feet, which in comparison, the Spruce Goose's record 320-foot
Wingspan was nearly a third of a Football Field longer!
Even more mind-boggling to Mwah are the
Spruce goose's massive wing's, which measure a ridiculous eleven and one half
feet thick, i.e.; 11 and 1/2 Feet Wing Chord which includes a cavity large
enough for human's to crawl thru! Not to mention housing the massive fuel
tanks.
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Tomaso sitting in one of the
very roomy seats for Crew/Passengers. Couldn't even stretch my legs far enough
to touch seat in front of me! (The Tomaso Collection)
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But before we got to that, we momentarily
Gawked' at the fairly sparse Engineer station - where three Flight engineers
were located behind the Co-pilot's seat, in their own compartmental area. And
think Jeannie said they didn't even have revolving seats?
The H4 Hercules had a Normal Crew of 11, but apparently
had 18 upon its Historic Flight. While there were some further 14 passengers,
mainly Press Onboard, albeit reportedly four Press members Departed before the
third flight. Thus making for a total of 28 passengers total.
Although I've also
read there were two dozen Press members onboard.., and I'd originally penciled
in 19 Crew members. So who really knows the exact total, Eh?
Alas, I was ushered into one of the plush
passenger seats, in three rows behind the pilot's seat - marveling at its
leg-room.
Naturally there was a Coffee-pot onboard,
actually consisting of two silver, presumably Stainless Steel Urns replete with
Styrofoam cups centered between the urns. Being positioned nearby the passenger
and crew locations.
Bruce then talked in length about the Oscillograph
machine Onboard, basically a cylindrical device that spat out "ticker
tape" graph paper charts for various loads being measured upon the
Aeroplane, for which the person assigned to said machine needed to read 'n
report in "Real-time" whilst flying. With other various loads,
strains, etc occurring during flight being measured by 24 Accelerometers on the
Left Hand Side - with None on Right Hand side of Aeroplane.
Lastly, we briefly took a Look-see' at the Upper
Deck's APU compartment, which stands for Auxiliary Power Unit, which All modern
Aeroplanes utilize to start Thar mammoth engines, a la today's de riggour Big
'Ol Jetliners.
But unfortunately I've failed to write down
the name of these units, which I believe were manufactured by Franklin? Since
there were two of these four cylinder lumps' onboard, albeit I know I spent
nearly an hour's time trying to find their exact designation on Ye
"Intrawoods" to No Avail...
And although the H4 Hercules is best known by
its Spruce Goose moniker, due to Hughes being contractually prohibited from
using any necessary wartime materials, i.e.; Aluminum, Steel or other precious metals.
The monstrous Flying Boat is actually constructed out of 92% Birch, with only a little spruce
utilized! Along with minimal fabric being used upon control surfaces.
Also, the H4 Hercules now on Display in
Oregon was the initial test version with the contract for two further models,
or three total mammoth Flying Boats capable of ferrying 750 fully "Kitted
Out" Military Personnel or two Tanks across thou Puddle', nee Atlantic!
Yet due to Howard's constant tinkering over
the myriad 'O countless Details, ultimately, these constant Delays caused it to
not be completed prior to World War II's end.
Naturally the U.S. Government cancelled this
contract, since they were no longer necessary. But Hughes persevered, primarily
out of Ego regarding his reputation. Not to mention the ensuing Litigation being
waged against him for War Fraud. Hence Howard spent a further $7m of his own
money and ultimately triumphed that fall November day in 1947!
The Museum
As I've mentioned, I was given a most
wonderfully unexpected personally guided 45 minutes tour with the two great
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum Docents Bruce and Jules that glorious
day's Fall visit. And although I cannot guarantee you'll receive the same
treatment, since presumably my blindness partially helped initiate this?
However, if you're intrigued by History,
Aviation or just looking for something Different to do, then I Highly recommend
making the Trek to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville,
Oregon!
As we didn't even bother visiting the other
portions of the Museo' afterwards since I was reportedly "Walking on
Clouds!" And we Skipped the Space Museum's portion the next day, as
there's simply too much to visit at this massive, sprawling museum. For which
hopefully we'll return another day...
Kudos to Bruce & Jules and Jeannie!
(Spruce Goose Photos c/o J & J Images)