By Peter Fleming
Peter Fleming visits a small town in Oregon, USA, and pays homage to aviation genius Howard Hughes' history-making H-4 Hercules, otherwise known as the "Spruce Goose".
AN army of critics may have laughed at him, but on November 2, 1947 eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes created history when he made the one and only flight in his gargantuan H-2 Hercules, disparagingly dubbed the “Spruce Goose”. The beast flew about a mile and for around a minute, leaving egg on the faces of the critics who poured scorn on Hughes, claiming the aircraft would never fly. Even today, some of the aircraft’s dimensions remain the largest ever constructed.
On one of those days that inspire people to wax rhapsodic about the weather, a mate and I found ourselves twiddling our thumbs in our $35-a-night room in Wilsonville, Oregon, just south of Portland. There’s not a lot happening in this sleepy part of west coast USA and as Reece waited desperately for late afternoon when Wankers Corner Saloon and Café (yes that’s its real name) would open so he could taste the local amber fare, he began to shuffle through the local tourist info. Amongst the pages appeared the iconic silhouette of the Spruce Goose. “According to the ad, it’s here in Oregon,” Reece exclaimed. “No way” I replied. “It’s in the Smithsonian or in this big dome place in Long Beach, California.” I was wrong. The Goose had indeed spent a long time in a warehouse and then on display in the big dome thingy at Long Beach but had finally been moved and restored by a private museum in another little town in Oregon called McMinnville. Well, being aeroplane type people Reece and I had to go. So we packed our gear in the Prius, placed the address into the GPS fondly known as Karen and discovered that we were in fact a mere twenty minutes away from a place you just have to see.
There are no signs at the front of the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, a local council issue no doubt. So the folks at Evergreen used what they had to grab attention and parked a Boeing 747 in their front yard. It worked because we found the place easily and came away thrilled and enriched by the whole museum experience.
Originally inspired by Michael King Smith who was the son of the founder of Evergreen Aviation and local guy made good, this museum is definitely something to be proud of. Unfortunately Captain Michael King Smith was killed in a car accident in 1995 aged just 29, his impressive memorial (an F-15 Eagle) can be seen across the road from the museum at Evergreen’s main office.
Surrounded by vineyards, rising from the ground are two enormous glassed-in hangars, so big the IMAX cinema located between them almost looks insignificant. Since this particular visit another building has sprung up and mounted upon its well-designed roof is the 747 that had previously tempted visitors to enter the museum. This building will very shortly open as an aviation-themed water park. Believe it or not you will finally get to jump out the doors of a jumbo jet, not screaming and panicking but into the slippery fun of a waterslide. How cool is that!?
As you make your way up the main entrance, which is painted like a runway, an assortment of legendary aircraft can be seen around the buildings. Types include the F-14 Tomcat, which sits appropriately nearby a Mig-29 Fulcrum, a Buckeye, and a Cobra helicopter. Best thing is you can actually “touch” the aircraft on display. The two main buildings are separately themed, one houses the Spruce Goose and displays an assortment of aircraft including a 1920’s Ford Tri Motor, a WW2 B17 Bomber, and numerous Warbirds and civilian aircraft that all look as though they could be wheeled out and taken to the air. The other building is dedicated to the progress toward the exploration of space and new frontiers. The SR-71 Blackbird, components of an Apollo rocket and a towering Titan missile adorn this building, even a piece of the Berlin Wall. A vacant area remains in the building, hopeful of one day containing one of aviation’s greatest achievements thus far, a Space Shuttle.
Having now seen and touched the Spruce Goose, the experience is hard to explain. I stood under its towering fin, amazed by the 320 foot wingspan and by how the Douglas DC-3 under its port wing manages not to end up in therapy with an inferiority complex. I also thought about the guy responsible for its design: Howard Robard Hughes. Yeah, he inherited his wealth from his father’s Texas tool company. And yeah, he was a big player on the movie scene and shared the lives (Ed: and beds) of some of Hollywood’s most glamourous women. But despite his faults and distractions, Howard Hughes was an aeroplane guy who wanted to be a part of the aviation journey, not just someone along for the ride. He set world records in aviation, owned one of the world’s great airlines (TWA) and designed some of the most incredible flying machines imaginable. Yes, he had money but he could have easily spent it elsewhere. Instead, he spent it on his passion and remains one of aviation’s great pioneers.
When I stepped inside the great wooden hull I just wanted to tell someone I was there, a part of something historical and unique. So I sent an SMS to my son that read: “I’m actually standing inside the Spruce Goose!” “What’s the Spruce Goose?” came the reply. Oh well, there’s time to educate him I guess.
There are several impressive aviation museums worldwide, but Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum towers over the rest not by the size of its buildings or the number of displays it exhibits but by that one piece of history no one else wanted to preserve – Howard Hughes’ H-4 Hercules. The aircraft has no glass cockpits and yes, it’s made of wood (birch mostly), not spruce. If you’re an aeroplane guy or gal you really owe it to yourself to make this place a part of your aviation journey. Besides, the Boeing museum and Boeing Field are just four hours’ drive north to Seattle and there you will find the Concorde … but that’s another story for another day.
I have since returned to Evergreen and shown my son Geordi first-hand what big dreams are capable of achieving. Do yourself a favour and go check out the big bird in the hangar at McMinnville, Oregon, the legacy of one of the biggest dreamers history has known. You can’t miss it, just look for the jumbo jet.
