H-4 Hercules | International Aviation HQ

Hughes H-4 Hercules: Inside The Largest Aircraft Ever Built That Could’ve Changed History!

21Jul

By Alexander Pask12 Comments

Aircraft Digest

Hughes H-4 Hercules: Inside The Largest Aircraft Ever Built That Could’ve Changed History!

Designed by Howard Hughes himself, and ridiculed as the "Spruce Goose" for its size and the material it was built out of, the Hughes H-4 Hercules should have had a long and storied service life. Yet it never took off as it was expected... As the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built (only the LZ 129 Hindenburg airship from the famed Hindenburg disaster is bigger), the H-4 was a behemoth for its time, and indeed in our own, being far larger than anything built before or after it. So why did it go from one of the most anticipated aircraft of the 1940's to something relegated to the pages of history in less than a decade? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Pre-Hughes H-4 Hercules Having supplied the Allies (mainly Britain) with supplies since 194...

Remembering Hughes Aircraft Company: How Howard Hughes Became an Aviation Pioneer!

10Jul

By Alexander Pask2 Comments

History

Remembering Hughes Aircraft Company: How Howard Hughes Became an Aviation Pioneer!

Howard Hughes was one of the most important aviation pioneers of the 20th century. Not only did he run two airlines (TWA and Hughes Airwest), but he also ran the Hughes Aircraft Company - known for being one of the largest aircraft manufacturers of its time! Despite that, the death of Howard Hughes in 1976 profoundly impacted the company, with it being dismantled and sold on within 20 years of his death, with only portions of the business surviving to this day... (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Pre-Hughes Aircraft Company: Howard Hughes Known as an eccentric even back then, Howard Hughes had inherited his father's drill bit manufacturer, Hughes Tool Company, in 1924 at the age of 18. Not really interested in spending the rest of his life mak...

9Oct

By Christopher HarrowNo Comments

Aircraft Digest

15 Largest Aircraft in the World!

Ever since the Wright Brothers' first flight in 1903, people have strived to make aircraft larger than anything that came before it. This begs the question, which are the largest aircraft in the world? There are several ways you can measure the "largest aircraft"- length, volume, number of passengers and more. For the purposes of this article, it will include aircraft that are from all three "categories" if you will. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 15. Stratolaunch Former Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen founded and later funded the development of the Stratolaunch and designed by Burt Rutan. When it first took flight in April 2019, the Stratolaunch officially became the largest aircraft (in terms of wingspan) to ever fly. Unlike most other la...