Blueprint

IT WAS supposed to be the aeroplane that would solve the Allies´ trans-Atlantic transportation problem. The largest flying boat in history, the H-4 ´Hercules´ would carry personnel and materiel by air, scuppering the German sea offensive. The problem was that the ´Spruce Goose´ as the H-4 became universally known didn´t take to the skies until 2 November 1947, when it made its inaugural and only flight. With its designer, eccentric billionaire industrialist and moviemaker Howard Hughes, at the controls, the plane remained airborne for about one mile at an altitude of 70 feet, travelling at a speed of 80mph.