Detailed tour through the Spruce Goose! - the Hughes H-4 Hercules.

Many years ago I had the honor to guard Mr. Hughes. We talked and when I told him I was in the USAF and was a crew chief on F-4 fighters we talked aircraft. Later I told him I had watched the film of him in the cockpit of the goose and asked him if he took the aircraft into the air on purpose, he just smiled at me and had a sparkle in his eye. I admired him for his many contributions to aviation and many other endeavors. I never saw him in his later years and I remember him for what he was, a great man with great ideas.

Working as a machinist for Hughes was amazing. We were treated like truly respected craftsmen.

My dad was a fighter pilot in WWII. He was still stationed out west after the war when the taxi test was done. He checked out a Corsair and was circling the harbor during the taxi test. He got to witness the lone "flight" of the H-4 Hercules from above.

I have seen the enormous Hughes flyingboat twice. In 1992 in Long Beach, and 25 years later in Oregon, west of Portland. It is wonderful that she has not been heartlessly scrapped. Congratulations to the dedicated people of the aero museum.

My dad worked on the Spruce Goose when it was being built. He said he would be inside the Tail fin gluing pre-formed plywood bracket and water proof glue. I still have scrap pieces of the wood (Duramold).I miss you Dad. Thanks for posting this video.

I know this is trivial, but my dad was one of the few who saw the Goose fly. It was one of the highlights of his life

Fun Fact: Howard Hughes bailed my grandfather out of jail for street racing in Santa Ana because Hughes had been dating my grandfather's sister. Grandfather went on to be AHRA champion some time later.

Howard Hughes was an incredible man. I remember the stories on the tv in the 70s about his illness, and about his incredible achievements. You cant help but have huge respect for the man.

Paul My name is Mark and I was a Corporate Pilot for about 35 years. Back in 1986 I accompanied my new wife to LA on her first trip to LA working for a new company. She was young nervous. We took a drive over to Long Beach on a Sunday morning and I saw the Spruce Goose just sitting there. She didn’t know anything about the SG. I quickly explained to her all about it. No one was around so we both went into the ship and I was amazed. We went the cockpit and the right wing entry and I was I amazed At what we saw. A few minutes later the security people came and asked us to leave. But to this day it was an amazing experience for me and hopefully for my now EX Wife

I saw the Spruce Goose at that museum. It is hard to describe just how large it is. Looking back into the tail, from the portal provided at the museum, it is truly cavernous. And the space inside is wide open, quite unlike boarding a wide body such as the 747. But what impressed me more was the highly creative use of wood. Truly noteworthy, like carbon fiber composites of today. Hughes was a great business leader. For a time I worked for Hughes Aircraft in a portion of its electronics business. It was a top-flight organization.

I have a Family member that spoke about this aircraft and taught me a lot when I was a child of This particular Aircraft….…so I am quite happy to see this vid. Thankyou.

I worked on the C5M RERP program. I was a functional flight yest mechanic. I've been in every area where a person can be in a C5. The H-4 looks huge in comparison. 😮 awesome video!

Wonderful man...knew more than all the experts put together...he was not mad...highly intelligent...people jealous....what an asset to aviation...sadly lost...and people laughed....sad on you...he lived how he wanted...again..people jealous....God bless howard...or Mr Hughes....r.i.p.....sadly missed..xx

I can't imagine throttling up all 8 engines...all i can say is it must have been amazing..

Back in the early 2000s me and my father used to live in McMinnville he was an electrician who did a lot of the surveillance and security systems in the aviation center. He took me to work with him one day when the center was closed to the public and me and him had the entire museum to ourselves. I even got to go inside of the Spruce goose. Very cool experience

I remember going to this museum last summer. This plane was HUGE in real life, it was actually unbelievable.

When the H4 was in Long Beach I was called in to discuss putting a mechanical variable speed drive and control system in one of the engine nacelles so that they could spin the prop. To inspect the mounting location we walked through the wing (there was a small work shop in the wing for in flight repairs) and I saw how the wing had been constructed and was very impressed. The engine nacelle looked like they had cut off the front half of a A1 Skyraider and bolted it to the wing.

Went and saw this museum in 2016 and as a fan of aviation I have to say it’s absolutely incredible. I could spend a whole year there without any complaints. I remember seeing the b-17 next to the spruce goose and it looked like a miniature model in comparison. They also had an sr-71 blackbird display and also one of its engines alone on the side. A very special place indeed

My grandfather was an air force vet who spent the last decade or so of his life volunteering at this museum. He was part of the team that relocated the goose to evergreen museum, and he and my dad were both part of the team that relocated the SR-71 Blackbird up there as well. I have great memories and particularly great aviation memories with him, and a great summer hanging out here with him. Thanks for the video!

Wow! 8 engines each with 28 cylinders is a lot of moving parts! 3000 hp per engine equals 24,000 horsepower total! What a sound it would make with throttles opened up. All all this back in the 1940's! Very impressive. Some good videoing and commentary as usual Paul!