Neat sort-of warbird experience with the Hughes H-4...

[p51]

I went to the Evergreen Aviation museum in McMinnville, Oregon yesterday. I'd been there twice before but not since 2005. They have expanded the place a great deal ad is the only museum I know which has a B-17 and hardly anyone notices. It's dwarfed by their primary display=
The Hughes H-4 'Hercules':

Inside the crew compartment after walking up a very tight spiral staircase:

Here's about the only part of the plane that really is spruce, parts of the main wing root:

Unique view of the lined up props off the left wing:

Inside the wing, looking toward the outer edge. They had crewmen inside the wing taking readings on its one flight:

And here I am, not only sitting at Hughes' seat, but on the same seat cushion he sat on the one time I got the bird off the ground in 1947!

Talk about an amazing experience...

[maxum96]

Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing. Do they let anyone go up to the flight deck and sit in the pilot's seat? Or did you get a "special" tour?

[p51]

Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing. Do they let anyone go up to the flight deck and sit in the pilot's seat? Or did you get a "special" tour?

Special tour. I had no idea they did that, as you had to pay just to stick your head inside the cargo area the last time I was there.
Worth every penny and they let you take as much as 3 people with you! Even my wife thought it was cool, though she hated the extremely tight spiral stairs getting up there.

[sandiego89]

Nice!

I got inside her years ago in Long Beach, and recall finding the cockpit/pilots seat much more akin to a bus driver than a typical aircraft. Sitting higher up than I would have imagined. Windows almost at leg level, not shoulder level. Like flying from a park bench.....

A moving experience to see where the man sat- lucky you for sitting in the seat.

Thank you for posting.

[airtj]

I'm curious to know if the engines and props are real or are they replicas?

[p51]

I'm curious to know if the engines and props are real or are they replicas?

Good question. I think they had one engine off the plane on display (I was there with 3 people who weren't warbird fans as such so I went through the museum pretty quick and had to stop and tell them what some things were).

[Pogo]

Talk about an amazing experience...

Heck, it's an amazing experience just to see the pictures, thanks for posting!

And, incidentally, if you have a bunch more photos, by all means please do post 'em...

[APG85]

Very cool. Must have been a neat experience. Thanks for sharing the pictures...

[p51]

if you have a bunch more photos, by all means please do post 'em...

Yeah, I took more than a few shots, will need to re-size them and toss them on photobucket when I have time...

[tom d. friedman]

being in the wing & the up close pic of the prop gives real perspective as to her sheer size. you have 1 lucky ass to be able to sit in hughes's position let alone touch the throttles!!

Last edited by tom d. friedman on Tue Dec 09, 2014 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[APG85]

Just curious but why does a section of the forward upper fuselage appear to be de-skinned...?

[p51]

For obvious reasons, I started wondering about the time this bird was in storage after Hughes lfew her the one time and long before she went on public display. The museum folks said they were unaware of ANY photos taken of the flying boat in the hangar when Hughes was still alive as he swore his people to secrecy when working on the bird. They also said he'd had the bird painted a different color, re-engined her and strenghtened the tail (our guide said the reason the flight was so short was people he'd had in the tail radioed up front that they were looking at daylight through gaps in the seams back there and to get back on the water right away, otherwise the tail might come off). This is all I’ve found so far: http://www.air-and-space.com/sprucea.htm This must have been taken in prep for having the bird moved out after Hughes passed away:

Just curious but why does a section of the forward upper fuselage appear to be de-skinned...?

I assume it was done when it was on display in LA near the Queen Mary, I'd read that they'd had a platform you would walk up and look into the cockpit from the outside. Wouldn't it then make sense to give people a better way to see inside? If it isn't that, then I have no clue why.

[tom d. friedman]

the deskinned section is to show tourists / museum guests the meticulous carpentry construction, & the skill it took to make hercules from the ground up, by hand. only my opinion but i think it detracts from the display.

[APG85]

I agree. You wouldn't strip the fabric off of the Spirit of St. Louis so why do it to this aircraft...?

[p51]

the deskinned section is to show tourists / museum guests the meticulous carpentry construction, & the skill it took to make hercules from the ground up, by hand. only my opinion but i think it detracts from the display.

And that would make sense to a degree if the public got close enough to that section to be able to see that.
After last weekend, I now realize how much has changed on the H-4 since Hughes flew her the one time. I've been told that Hughes did a lot of modifications and changes to the bird while she was being kept ready to fly again over all those years.
(I still wonder if Hughes seriously ever intended to fire her up and a flight again after a few years had past from the one time she got off the water).