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kleinbl00  ·  3674 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Airbus may retire the A380 as soon as 2018

Yeah, I like those. Kinda drives the point home that the Spruce Goose was before its time... but since it was before its time, it wasn't a plane, it was an Ekranoplan with delusions of grandeur.

Hughes H-4 Hercules: 8x3000HP radials = 24,000 HP

Boeing 747-8: 4x67,000lb thrust turbofans = 400,000 HP

Hughes H-4 Hercules: 250,000 lb

Boeing 747-8: 500,000 lb

Give that dude 20+ years of engine development and he coulda been a contender. As it is, it was a precursor to the Caspian Sea Monster.

It's funny. I live in Playa Del Rey. The Spruce Goose was built a short bike ride away. A lot of the old beach houses around here are built out of leftover cuttings from the assembly line; they aren't that well insulated. I've also shot two television shows in the hangar where they built it. It's a pretty massive space. Not quite as crazy as Boeing's 747 assembly line, but bigger than your average garage, for sure.

It's gonna be all google's pretty soon.