The Spruce Goose and its journey to McMinnville, OR

these controls Hughes was ready the eight engines kicked on and the crowd cheer with Hughes at the controls the giant flying boat glided smoothly across the three mile stretch of harbor from 35 miles per hour it cruised to 90 miles an hour during the second taxi test when eager newsmen began filing their stories but they were too eager Hughes wasn't finished catching the media and the crowd honor where Hughes lowered the wing flaps and taxied a third time and now for mr. Hughes surprise as the enormous craft approaches her 95 mile an hour takeoff speed the pilot lifts her out of the step and holes are there as she races through the choppy sea and with a final drive of her engines two hundred tons are airborne five months ahead of time seventy feet off the water she stays for a mile twenty three million dollars worth of airplane has answered a lot of committee questions it can fly the unexpected flight left the crowd and the world stunned whose comment to the astonished newsmen I like to make surprises how did you expect that certainly I like to my surprise you were surprised to the eyes that I thought I might a surprise the giant seaplane was never to fly again at Hugh's insistence she was kept secluded and flight-ready in a specially built climate-controlled hangar shrouded in mystery she remained in Tomb for 33 years at an annual cost to $1,000,000 time caught up with both Hughes and the flying boat after Hughes passed away in 1976 the hangars lease expired and plans were made to disassemble the historic seaplane sumer corporation Hughes holding company decided to divide her up parting her out to the Smithsonian and eight other museums and then destroying the rest the arrow Club of Southern California along with the rather corporation and aviation enthusiasts throughout the nation stepped in to savor on October 29 1980 the flying boat emerged from seclusion and into the international spotlight the world's largest floating crane Hermann the German lifted her on to the dock of the temporary storage area what was expected to take on a few hours took almost two days in February 1982 a new site was ready the flying boat was taken by barge down Long Beach Harbor then gently eased into her new domed home adjacent to the Queen Mary in the late 1980s the Disney Corporation purchased the former holdings of the rather corporation Disney discontinued the dome exhibit after two years leaving the flying boat looking for another home once again the arrow club took on the task of locating a permanent residence for the flying boat and after reviewing many proposes awarded her to evergreen international aviation on July the 9th 1992 evergreens plan as envisioned by captain Michael King Smith proposed to not only preserve and protect her but also to display her as a central exhibit at a living museum the move to Oregon brought a new set of problems for the flying boat it would require a disassembly packaging transportation and reassembling a workforce including some of the original flight crew carefully planned and documented the project to ensure a successful journey disassembly began August 10th 1992 and concluded six weeks later with the plane and 38 separate pieces crews created the propellers engines in smaller parts shipping them via interstate 5 a large opening was created in the dome and the remaining pieces were shrink wrapped and rolled out until an ocean-going barge after traveling 980 nautical miles from Long Beach California the control services horizontal stabilisers wings vertical tail and fuselage arrived in Portland Oregon thousands of people celebrated the arrival with an official proclamation of Spruce Goose Day declared by Mayor bud park on October 22nd at Tom McCall waterfront park the water levels of the lament River delayed the flying boat strip from Portland to McMinnville the water was either too high for passage under bridges or too low for migration from the river to land the large pieces remained in storage for several months finally conditions improved in the flying boats slowly made her way upriver setting new records at historic Willamette Falls for the longest and highest load ever to pass through the locks after landing near Dayton the caravana pieces stretched more than 1500 feet down the narrow road the flying boat arrived in McMinnville at Evergreen international aviation on February 27 1993 a Spruce Goose homecoming parade converged down the final the 138 de 1055 mile trip from Long Beach shortly after the successful arrival of men tragedy struck the museum's co-founder captain Michael King Smith died in an automobile accident his father Dell furred him Smith founder of evergreen international aviation persevered and continued his son's dream of an educational institute and live-in museum the Captain Michael King Smith educational institute an evergreen aviation museum were created in honor of captain Smith's life dreams and accomplishments the project continued as dedicated crews of volunteers restored the flying boats exterior in a temporary storage area they replaced a deteriorated fabric on the rudder and elevators and removed the old paint by hand from the fuselage wings vertical stabilizer and floats the paint removal exposed inspection stamps signatures of men and women who worked on the original construction and evidence at the Durham Bowl had passed wind shear tests the large pieces of the flying boat were sanded primed with a white latex finish and repainted in the original silver flight color preparation began for the final 800 foot move from temporary storage to the new museum moving crews news crews and spectators began arriving during the early morning hours of September 62,000 at 10 a.m. the b-17 Flying Fortress signaled the beginning of the procession across highway 80 the vertical tail came first followed by the right and left wings each spanning a distance wider than the five lane highway as the tail and wings slowly made their way around the bends toward the new facility the flying boats fuselage began the trek dwarfing the buildings it passed the fuselage into the hangar on September the 22nd and was lowered into its 7-foot pit a week later reassembly of the wings occurred on November 15 followed by the vertical tail on November 20th the pylons were assemble on January 25th 2001 and crews attached the eight Pratt and Whitney are 4360 engines to the flying boat on February 23rd volunteers applied new fabric to the ailerons and began restoration of the flaps and horizontal stabilizers during the spring they painted and prepare the propellers attaching them to the aircraft in early May this was followed by Assembly of the horizontal stabilizers on May 25th just in time for the new facilities opening on June 6 2001 after a busy summer crews began assembling the flying boats control surfaces the flaps were assembled September 6 the ailerons on October 9 and the rudder and elevators were attached in early December on December 7th the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor crews assemble the final piece the tail color after a ribbon-cutting ceremonies signifying the completion the flying boats incredible journey

Channel: Evg Campus

Views: 124,759

Rating: 4.8207426 out of 5

Keywords: Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum (Building)

Id: nfkyhj-g22w

Length: 9min 5sec (545 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 23 2013