SPRGOOSE.TXT      HUGHES "SPRUCE GOOSE" FLYING BOAT     JULY 2004

NOTE: This add-on aeroplane is designed with Discreet GMax for use with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. 

INSTALLING THE SPRUCE GOOSE:
   Through the wonders of Pkware, once unzipped there will be several items: SPRGOOSE.TXT (this file; read, save if you like);  file_id.diz (which you may now discard); a folder named SPRGOOSE (containing dedicated MODEL, PANEL, SOUND and TEXTURE folders); and a file named gauge.zip. Last, HUGHES SPRUCE GOOSE AT LONG BEACH.FLT and HUGHES SPRUCE GOOSE AT LONG BEACH.WX set a most appropriate starting venue.

   Put the SPRGOOSE folder in your sim's Aircraft folder. Unzip gauge.zip into your sim's Gauge folder. Last, put the .FLT and .WX files in My Documents/Flight Simulator Files. And you're ready to fly.



HISTORY
   The largest aircraft ever flown, the Hughes "Spruce Goose" was envisioned as an airborne "Liberty Ship" safe from enemy submarines. Henry J. Kaiser and Howard Hughes cooperated in its initial development, but when the aircraft's strategic importance diminished late in WWII, Kaiser withdrew his support. Hughes carried on.
   In June 1946, a firm of house movers transported the immense hull from its Culver City factory to an assembly dock on the waterfront of Terminal Island. The one and only test flight of the "Spruce Goose" took place more than a year later, on November 2, 1947.
   It was a spectacle worthy of Howard Hughes, who piloted the aircraft himself. A huge crowd gathered on the dock; VIPs watched from a yacht hired by Hughes. At 12:10 p.m. he fired up all eight engines and taxied the Flying Boat briefly up and down the harbor. He repeated this at 12:40 p.m. Then, a surprise to everyone but Hughes, an hour later, he opened the throttles. The huge aircraft gathered speed and lifted off the water. It flew for no more than a mile at rather less than 100 ft. It never flew again.
   The book "Howard Hughes and his Flying Boat," by Charles Barton, Charles Barton Inc, Vienna, Va., 1982, gives excellent details of this day.
   The "Spruce Goose" lay dormant for years. It was later an elaborate display, housed under a huge dome at Long Beach Harbor. More recently, the aircraft was moved to the Evergreen Aiation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.Check out their website at www.sprucegoose.com.

THE REAL HUGHES "SPRUCE GOOSE" FLYING BOAT, 1947
Wing span: 319 ft. 11 in.           Wing area: 11,430 sq. ft. 
Length: 218 ft. 8 in.               Height: 79 ft. 4 in. 
Weight, gross: 400,000 lb. (For another configuration: 350,000 lb)
Construction: Laminated birch, some spruce used as fillers       
Power: Eight Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major
        28-cylinder air-cooled radials, 3000 hp each
Cruising speed, best range, 5000 ft: 150 mph 
Maximum speed, takeoff power: 234 mph
Landing speed: 87 mph
Range: 1430 miles
Ceiling: 17,400 ft.

 
FLYING THE VIRTUAL HUGHES "SPRUCE GOOSE" FLYING BOAT
   First, be aware that the "Spruce Goose" is HUGE. In the View Menu, set Spot Plane distance to around 600 ft (otherwise, your view of this gigantic aircraft will be distorted).
   As FS9 admits a maximum of only 4 engines, I doubled their horsepower to equal the output of the real aircraft's eight. This means you control them in pairs (exactly as Howard did, by the way!).
   The FS9 "Spruce Goose" lifts off at around 110 kts.
   This is a tad later than the real aircraft. On the other hand, the virtual version is ultimately faster as well (thus creating a flight-dynamics quandary of liftoff versus maximum speed). 
   Navigational, flight deck and landing lights are toggled by L. 
   Also, many of the controls in J.L. Stubbs' fine panel are functional. In particular, the Radio switch, near the bottom of the panel, toggles a full radio panel. The Engineer switch toggles the engineer's panel.  
   Her forward cargo doors operate with the usual Shift + E. Shift + E + 2 opens her aft cargo doors as well as the upper door at the fuselage/wing root.
   Ctrl + Shift + V opens the cowls of her eight engines; Ctrl + Shift + C closes them.
   Set her down at around 100 kts.   

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
   Several simmers suggested that I update my original FS98 "Spruce Goose" to FS2004. I quite agree.
   My warm thanks to J.L. Stubbs for his wonderful panel, hk1panv1.zip, which he did for my original FS98 Spruce Goose; Brian Kostick did its special gauges. This panel works great here as well.
   Also, the most appropriate sounds are by Bernd Drefahl, Harry Follas and Brian Horsey. They originally appeared in fs98goos.zip, a compilation of my FS98 "Spruce Goose" assembled by Stephen P. Lopez. My thanks to you all.
   Felix Rodriguez has performed ably as guiding light of Freeflightdesign.com as well as general all-around flight-sim colleague.      

   Information for building the Hughes Flying Boat "Spruce Goose" came from a variety of sources. Primary is "Howard Hughes and his Flying Boat," by Charles Barton, Charles Barton Inc., Vienna, Va., 1982. Others include "Howard Hughes His Achievements and Legacy The Authorized Pictorial Biography," by Robert Maguglin, Wrather Port Properties, Long Beach, 1984; "The Howard Hughes Flying Boat," by Milton L. Schwartz & Robert O. Maguglin, Rosebud Books, 1983; also (though their 3-views are suspect) "World Aircraft Commercial 1935-1960," by Enzo Angelucci and Paolo Matricardi, part of the Rand McNally Color Illustrated Guide series, Rand McNally, Chicago, 1979; and "History of Aviation," by John W.R. Taylor and Kenneth Munson, Crown, New York, 1977. Alas, though I live in southern California, I never got to see her when she was just up the road in Long Beach. I must visit McMinnville, Oregon, some day.
    
   Sincere thanks goes to the entire flight sim community,from which I've derived much pleasure, challenge and entertainment. Needless to say, this aircraft is free to all. No responsibility  is taken for any loss or damage incurred directly or indirectly from its use. The original unaltered files may be freely distributed, uploaded, downloaded and shared. Please maintain proper credit, of course, and make no financial gain whatsoever.

Dennis Simanaitis, FSEngEd@AOL.COM, California, July 20, 2004