Major Mike | Today in History 11/02 (Hughes H-4 Hercules)

Howard Hughes' flying boat, nicknamed the 'Spruce Goose,' glides over the water on November 2, 1947, in Long Beach, California (© AP)

(1947) Howard Hughes flies the ‘Spruce Goose’

Howard Hughes pilots his huge, multimillion dollar wooden plane, the ‘Spruce Goose,’ in California. Designed to transport troops during WWII, the aircraft is completed two years late, after the war has ended. This short test flight is the only time the Goose will fly.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II, it was not completed in time to be used in the war. The aircraft made only one brief flight on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced. Built from wood because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum and concerns about weight, it was nicknamed by critics the Spruce Goose, although it was made almost entirely of birch. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built, and it has the largest wingspan of any aircraft that has ever flown. The aircraft remains in good condition. After being displayed to the public for almost 11 years in Long Beach, California from 1980 to 1991, it is now displayed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, United States.

Range: 2,983 miles
Maiden flight: Nov 02, 1947
Length: 219 feet
Wingspan: 320 feet
Passengers: 3
Retired: Apr 05, 1976

H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose”
wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules

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(1947) Howard Hughes flies the ‘Spruce Goose’.
Also on this day,

1948 | President Harry Truman defeats Thomas Dewey

By a narrow margin, President Harry Truman wins an upset victory over Republican challenger Thomas Dewey, the governor of New York in the race for the US presidency. Truman’s win will be considered the greatest upset in the history of US presidential elections.

1959 | Quiz show scandal as Charles Van Doren admits role in TV quiz show scandal

American intellectual Charles Van Doren confesses to a US House subcommittee that he’d been given answers prior to his appearances on TV’s game show ‘Twenty-One.’ During Van Doren’s so-called winning streak, he’d found fame, fortune, and made the cover of ‘Time.’

1963 | Coup in Vietnam as a presidential assassination sends Vietnam into chaos

Ngo Dinh Diem had been president of South Vietnam since 1955 and enjoyed US support until his strong-armed tactics, particularly against Buddhists, soured the relationship, and now a US-backed coup has brought him down. Vietnam will erupt into civil war following his assassination.

Today in History ^11/02/17

(1963) A presidential assassination sends Vietnam into chaos

Ngo Dinh Diem had been president of South Vietnam since 1955 and enjoyed US support until his strong-armed tactics, particularly against Buddhists, soured the relationship, and now a US-backed coup has brought him down. Vietnam will erupt into civil war following his assassination.

The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963. On 2 November 1963, Diệm and his adviser, his younger brother Ngô Đình Nhu, were arrested after the Army of the Republic of Vietnam had been successful in a bloody overnight siege on Gia Long Palace in Saigon. The coup was the culmination of nine years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in South Vietnam. Discontent with the Diệm regime had been simmering below the surface, and exploded with mass Buddhist protests against long-standing religious discrimination after the government shooting of protesters who defied a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag.