The Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes’ H-4 Flying Boat is built entirely of wood, although the wood is birch, not spruce. It is the largest wooden airplane ever constructed, and it was flown only one time on November 2, 1947, with Howard Hughes at the controls. The unannounced flight took place in Long Beach, CA during a taxi test and it flew at an altitude of 70 feet for about a minute traveling about a mile. The gigantic airplane is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. A whiskey colored fedora, like the one Howard Hughes wore on this one and only flight of the Spruce Goose, is on display in the cockpit, directly behind the pilot’s seat. But Howard has left the cockpit.