Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose

This iconic plane was the main draw for us to go and visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. As soon as you enter the museum the Spruce Goose dominates the space. It's the largest flying boat ever constructed, and to this day has the largest wingspan of any aircraft ever built. While all of the planes were incredible, it's not every day that you get to see such a memorable piece of aviation history up close.

Howard Hughes' H-4 Hercules was built between 1943-1947, and was dubbed the Spruce Goose because it was made largely out wood. Metal was in short supply during the war, but despite the plane's nickname it's actually made out birch - not spruce. The H-4's only flight took place on November 2, 1947 in the Long Beach harbor, where it flew approximately 70 ft. above the water piloted by Hughes.

Mike and I walked around the plane numerous times and viewed the interior cargo bay, unfortunately you have to schedule a time to view the cockpit for an additional charge. I was interested, but the waiting list was too long so we had to pass it up. Still, it was a lot of fun taking pictures. We both left talking about how we couldn't wait to watch The Aviator again, and I bought myself a miniature Spruce Goose in the gift shop.

Rear compartment of the plane.