Spruce Goose Finishes Migration
McMINNVILLE, Ore. — The disassembled Spruce Goose traveled the final mile to the site of its yet-to-be-built new home, the Evergreen AirVenture Museum.
In all, the behemoth has journeyed 1,055 miles by ship, barge and truck from Long Beach, a trip that took 138 days.
About 10,000 people watched Saturday as the caravan--consisting of the airplane’s fuselage, tail section and wings--came to rest next to the McMinnville Airport, said Howard Lovering, director of the planned museum.
The HK-1 Flying Boat will be the centerpiece of the 200,000-square-foot museum, which is scheduled to open in 1996.
On Nov. 2, 1947, the plane took to the air for just one mile at the hands of its architect, eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. But in the 1990s, the boat failed to soar as an attraction under the management of the Walt Disney Co. in Long Beach, so the rights to display the craft were acquired by Evergreen.
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