The world's largest flying boat

Meet - is not only the world's largest flying boat (take-off weight of 180 tons), but still one of the biggest aircraft in general (wingspan greater than that of the A-380 and AN-225 "Mriya").

Hughes H-4 Hercules - a wooden flying boat, designed by the American company Hughes Aircraft under the direction of Howard Hughes (yes, that's about it "Aviator" is unchecked). The fate of the aircraft did not work, he made only one flight of 2 November 1947 and is now a museum exhibit (under the wing huddles SR-71, is also not a small plane).
And in general, nothing remarkable in it would not have happened if it were not for one feature: due to the shortage of metal during the war ... it is made of wood! Despite its name, the main material is birch.
Personally, I saw a live A-380, can hardly imagine that the plane of this size, and can be constructed from wood. But he was even fly ... Apparently, Hughes was really brilliant.
4 photos via muz4in.net





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