Howard got in the air, just once to 70 feet and flew it for a mile or so.
The H-4 Hercules aka Spruce Goose with its eight, 3000 HP R4360s easily got airborne. It was to carry
700 troops across the Pacific with it's 400,000 pound gross weight.
Hughes put 7 million out of his pocket and the US, 16 million.
It was its only flight.