User:Rlandmann/Temp
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The Hughes H-4 Hercules (registration NX37602) is a "one-off" heavy transport aircraft designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft company. The aircraft made its first and only flight on 2 November 1947. Built from wood due to wartime raw material restrictions on the use of aluminium, it was nicknamed the "Spruce Goose" by its critics, some of whom accused Howard Hughes of misusing government funding to build the aircraft. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built, and has the largest wingspan and height of any aircraft in history. It survives in good condition at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.
H-4 Hercules | |
---|---|
Spruce Goose. But this is an example of a really really long caption - how does this look? | |
Role | Very heavy transport, flying boat |
Manufacturer | Hughes Aircraft |
Designer | Howard Hughes (Glenn E. Odekirk) Henry J. Kaiser (concept only)[1] |
First flight | 2 November 1947 |
Retired | 2 November 1947, stored until 5 April 1976 |
Status | Project cancelled |
Produced | Prototype only |
Number built | 1 |
Specifications (imaginary!) | |
Data from [2] | |
General characteristics | |
Crew | 1 |
Capacity | up to 7 passengers |
Length | 36 ft 4½ in (11.09 m) |
Span | 44 ft 1½ in (13.45 m) spread, 15 ft 0 in (5.00 m) swept |
Diameter | 80 ft 0 in (25.00 m) |
Main rotor diameter | 2 × 32 ft 10 in (10 m) |
4 × 32 ft 10 in (10 m) | |
Width | 100 ft 0 in (30.00 m) |
Height | 11 ft 5½ in (3.49 m) |
Wing area | 225.80 ft² (20.98 m²) spread, 220 ft² (20.0 ft²) swept |
Main rotor area | 25,000 ft² (2,500 m²) |
Volume | 300,000,000 ft³ (9,000,000 m³) |
Aspect ratio | 16 |
Empty weight | 4365 lb (1976 kg) |
Gross weight | 6075 lb (2062 kg) |
Useful lift | 16,000 lb (8,000 kg) |
Powerplant | 2 × Continental TSIO-520-NB flat-six turbocharged piston, of 310 hp (231 kW) each |
1 × Junkers Jumo 004 with afterburner , of 2,000 lbf (9.0 kN) thrust dry, 4,000 lbf (18.0 kN) with afterburner | |
Performance | |
Maximum speed | 271 mph (436 km/h) |
Maximum speed | Mach 1.1 |
Cruising speed | 250 mph (400 km/h) |
Range | 1528 miles (2459 km) |
Endurance | 23 min |
Service ceiling | 30,800 ft (9390 m) |
Maximum glide ratio | 40 |
Rate of climb | 1,000 ft/min (5.0 m/s) |
Rate of sink | 200 ft/min (1.0 m/s) |
Armament | |
• guns | |
• bombs | |
• torpedoes | |
• depth charges | |
• mines | |
• rocks | |
Career | |
Other name(s) | "Spruce Goose" (nickname) |
Registration | NX37602 |
Flights | 1 |
Preserved at | Evergreen Aviation Museum |
Due to wartime restrictions on the availability of metals, the H-4 was built almost entirely of laminated birch, not spruce as its nickname suggests. The Duramold process,[3] a form of composite technology, was used in the laminated wood construction. The aircraft was considered a technological tour de force. It married a soon-to-be outdated technology, flying boats, to a massive airframe that required some truly ingenious engineering innovations to function. Ultimately, however, due to delays and cost overruns, the project was cancelled.