Hughes H-4 Hercules, the “Spruce Goose” by Minicraft

1/200 scale
Kit No. 11657
Cost: $25.00
Decals: One version
Comments: Engraved panel lines; includes display stand

History

The idea for the Hughes H-4 Hercules flying boat came from Henry Kaiser, head of one of the largest American shipbuilding firms during World War II. America’s entry into the war triggered the need to supply our allies, and to transport and supply U.S. troops and the war materials to support them overseas. This had to be done by ships. While Kaiser headed a firm that was churning out cargo vessels at an impressive rate, German U-boats were sinking ships almost faster than they could be built, forcing the Allies to adopt the convoy system.

Kaiser thought a ship that could fly over the U-boat danger might be the answer, and Howard Hughes was known as an innovator in aircraft construction and design. Hughes was a successful industrialist and Hollywood movie producer when he founded the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1932. He personally tested cutting-edge aircraft of his own design and, in 1937, broke the transcontinental flight time record in his Hughes H-1. In 1938, he flew around the world in a record three days, 19 hours and 14 minutes.

Kaiser and Hughes, both successful industrialists in their own right, would launch the venture to build the huge aircraft. Originally dubbed the HK-1 (for Hughes-Kaiser, the initials of the principals in the project), the plan was to build at least three such giant seaplanes.

The huge plane would be made primarily of wood, saving strategic materials critical to the war effort. The difficulties of creating such a large airframe made of wood were unknown at the beginning of construction, and there would prove to be several. A structure made of lumber was created that, even on close inspection, bears little resemblance to any form of wood!

Following the United States’ entry into World War II in 1941, the U.S. government commissioned the Hughes Aircraft Company to build a large flying boat capable of carrying men and materials across the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of over 3,000 miles. Due to wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum, Hughes decided to build his aircraft out of wood laminated with plastic and covered in places with fabric. Although it was constructed mainly of birch, the limited use of spruce (along with its white grey color) would later earn the aircraft the nickname “Spruce Goose.” It had a wingspan of 320 feet and its development took so long that the war had ended by the time of its completion in 1946. Hughes was a demanding taskmaster during the plane’s development and construction. His attention to detail and insistence high standards for every component were factors in both the beauty of the plane, and the failure to meet its mid-1944 delivery date — an event that caused Henry Kaiser to withdraw his support for the project. From that point on, it was re-designated the Hughes H-4.

In fact, although Hughes directed his company continue to work on it, the plane was not ready to fly until after the war had ended. The completion date and final cost brought Hughes and the project under the critical eye of the post-war Congress, one Senator grudgingly referring to the plane as “The flying lumberyard”. Howard Hughes was called to Washington D.C. to defend both the project and himself. During a break in the hearings, he flew back to California to conduct a test on the “Goose.”

The Hughes H-1 had many detractors, and Congress demanded that Hughes prove the plane airworthy. On November 2, 1947, Hughes obliged, taking the Spruce Goose out into Long Beach Harbor. Thousands of onlookers and a gaggle of reporters had come to watch the aircraft taxi on the water, and were surprised when Hughes was able to lift the wooden behemoth out of the water to an altitude of 70 feet and fly it for a mile before landing.

This event put a halt to critics of the project bit also served as the finale for this gigantic aircraft…the project was dead. Despite its successful maiden flight, the Spruce Goose never went into production and never flew again. It was alleged that its wooden framework was insufficiently strong to support its weight during long flights. Nevertheless, Hughes refused to neglect what he saw as his greatest achievement in the aviation field. From 1947 until his death in 1976, Hughes kept the Spruce Goose prototype ready for flight in an enormous, climate-controlled hangar at his own expense — at a cost of $1,000,000 a year — in a move some believed was his way of spiting the government that had at one point accused him of being a war profiteer.

Howard Hughes’ massive flying boat in Long Beach Harbor, November 2, 1947.

Following Hughes death, the Smithsonian Institution put forward a plan to break the Spruce Goose up and display its components in various museums throughout the country. Amid a firestorm of protest from aviation enthusiasts, many of whom were willing to back up their complaints with money, sufficient funds were raised for the Aero Club of Southern California to buy the plane, keep in intact, and place it on display in a custom-built geodesic dome in Long Beach. Inside the dome, along with the plane, was a sort of Howard Hughes museum. Videos and photos were displayed around the dome, which also housed an event space and meeting rooms.

After the dome and surrounding attractions were purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 1988, the Spruce Goose was eventually sold to Delford Smith, the founder of Evergreen International Aviation, in 1992. The plane was transported to McMinnville in pieces by truck and barge, reassembled and restored by a team of experts. It has been on display as a centerpiece exhibit at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon since 2001.

While the Spruce Goose may have been a failure as a WWII transport aircraft, it has since captured the imagination of millions of aviation enthusiasts, and its legacy lives on as one of the last icons of the Golden Age of aviation. Howard Hughes’ “flying lumberyard” remains in the public consciousness decades after its famous flight.

Howard Hughes prepares for the first — and last– flight of the H-4 Hercules.

The Kit

Minicraft’s Spruce Goose is injection molded in grey plastic and even in 1/200 scale, is just over 12 inches in length with a wingspan of over 18 inches. It consists of 49 parts, including four clear parts for the windshield and aircraft stand. While in life the Spruce Goose was overwhelmingly made of wood, there are a few engraved panel lines on all major parts of the airframe. A nose weight will be required for the plane to rest properly on the aircraft stand.

Hughes in a more contemplative moment the evening following the flight. The lights of Long Beach harbor are visible through the Hercules’ massive windscreen.

The kit has no interior and each of the engine cowlings is a single part, corresponding to a single part for each of the eight four-bladed airscrews. The kit has an unusual approach to the Hughes H-4’s shoulder-mounted wing. It is to be cemented atop the fuselage, but aside from the fact that each individual wing consists of top and bottom halves (a common arrangement), the combined, completed wing is divided into right and left halves, a total of four parts when two would be easier from the viewpoint of a) construction and b) the structural integrity of the completed kit. Minicraft appear to have addressed this by providing spars to be cemented together between the right and left wings which will be hidden from view on the completed kit. Nonetheless, this approach will require seam-hiding and could complicate this stage of assembly, if there are insufficient contact points for glue or some other adhesive to form a strong bond.

Markings

Decals are provided for one version, serial NX37602, which flew at Long Beach Harbor on November 2, 1947. The sheet includes several markings for hatches, doors and windows, which far outnumber the more traditional markings. Curiously, there were no markings specifically identifying this as a product of Hughes Aircraft Corporation, but then, given the unique nature of this aircraft and its degree of fame, no such markings are really necessary.

Conclusion

An historic and fun weekend kit that appears to have been engineered with ease of construction in mind. Highly recommended.

References

• Howard Hughes: The Untold Story by Peter Harry Brown and Pat. H. Broeske; Copyright 1996 Penguin Books, USA, Inc., New York.
• allthatsinteresting.com
• www.evergreenmuseum.org