Spruce Goose Question

[JohnH]

Does anybody know why, when the airplane was built and flown it appeared silver, but when it was rolled out again in 1980 and then put on display it was white? Period pics and footage seems to show it as silver, as does the Aviator. I think Evergreen has put the silver paint back on.

John

[Steve T]

Hi--

The HK-1/H-4 was indeed originally overall silver; at some point during its long, shadowy period of storage later in Mr Hughes' lifetime, he had it refinished in white (and presumably at the same time, the "X" category letter disappeared from the registration). Who knows why. Of course many things about Mr Hughes' latter years were bemusing and/or confusing. I didn't know the Evergreen museum had returned the "Hercules" to its silver finish. Thanx for the info...

S.

[L. Thompson]

I believe the white paint was applied by the Disney folks when it was put on display at Long Beach as a fire resistant precaution.

[turbo_NZ]

While on the subject of the mighty Spruce Goose, was there any reason why "The Aviator" portrayed it flying at 1000ft+ overhead ??


TNZ

[Tom Crawford]

I guess because Leonardo Di'Caprio was flying it...I had the same question. Typical Hollywood.
Tom

[turbo_NZ]

It's a shame that they did that as IMHO they did the H-1 and XF-11 scenes and crashes very authentically and historically correct.
That SG high-flying scene just ruined it.

Sorry to move off the subject a little.

TNZ

[turbo_NZ]

Here's another question on the Spruce Goose.

See as it only really did a wee hop off the water, do you think it would have ever climbed to altitude as was designed ?
In the movie footage it always seemed like it was struggling to unstick (perhaps maybe even underpowered).

TNZ

[bdk]

You'd think it would have been pretty light for that flight. No need for full fuel and a complement of cargo/troops for a first flight.

[turbo_NZ]

ahhh,....it was carry DiCaprio's ego too,....that's quite heavy.....

TNZ

[Scott Rose]

Here's another question on the Spruce Goose.

See as it only really did a wee hop off the water, do you think it would have ever climbed to altitude as was designed ?
In the movie footage it always seemed like it was struggling to unstick (perhaps maybe even underpowered).

TNZ

Maybe the hull was less than stellar. You have too much suction and you could double the horsepower and you'd probably still have problems (or suffer a structural failure)

[turbo_NZ]

Maybe the hull was less than stellar. You have too much suction and you could double the horsepower and you'd probably still have problems (or suffer a structural failure)

Granted, but after it had become airborne, it still looked like it was struggling. Perhaps that was on purpose, ie the first flight was merely only designed as a hop. Maybe someone here can shed some light on that.

TNZ

[Don Martin]

Wasn't the "first flight"actually a high speed taxi run that HH decided to pull off the water just because he could?

[bdk]

I'm sure with modern methods the performance could be calculated quite accurately to answer all these questions. Maybe someone has already done this?

[JohnH]

I believe the white paint was applied by the Disney folks when it was put on display at Long Beach as a fire resistant precaution.

Actually Wrather Corp had control of the aircraft when it first came out into the open...and it was white then. Disney didn't take over the lease until 1988.

John

[B-29 Super Fort]

Wasn't the "first flight"actually a high speed taxi run that HH decided to pull off the water just because he could?

That's what I was always led to believe.