Hughes's Giant Wooden Plane Leaves the Water for 26 Seconds; Senate Asked to Count That as a Yes

The largest airplane ever built left the surface of the harbor this afternoon for the first time, rose to roughly 70 feet, flew about a mile and set itself back down on the water, all in about the time it takes a man to finish a cup of coffee. Howard Hughes, who was at the controls, has been finishing a lot of coffee lately.

The H-4 Hercules, with eight engines and a wingspan of some 320 feet, was ordered in 1942 as a flying boat that could carry troops and cargo across an Atlantic full of U-boats, where ships kept getting sunk. The war ended in 1945. Nobody told the airplane, and it kept being built.

Today was billed as a taxi test. The first two runs stayed politely on the water, and several reporters left to file stories about a very large boat. On the third run, with dozens of people aboard, the Hercules lifted off. A crowd on the breakwater cheered. The reporters who had left are said to be reconsidering their careers.

The flight comes three months after Mr. Hughes was summoned before a Senate war investigating committee to explain what the government had gotten for its money. He told senators that the Hercules was a monumental undertaking, that he had put the sweat of his life into it, and that if it was a failure he would probably leave the country and never come back. As of press time, Mr. Hughes remains in the country.

Critics call the aircraft the "Spruce Goose," a name Mr. Hughes reportedly detests, partly because it is made almost entirely of birch. Wartime limits on aluminum pushed the design into laminated wood, producing what may be the most expensive piece of furniture in California.

Asked when the Hercules would fly again, and higher, an aide said the matter was under study. Asked whether it had really flown today, the same aide said, "Twenty-six seconds is twenty-six seconds." The Senate is expected to agree that this is mathematically true.