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It Flies!
On November 2, 1947, the H-4 was launched into Long Beach Harbor in Southern California for taxi tests with Hughes at the controls. On the third taxi run, the flying boat unexpected lifted from the water, stunning all onlookers. It traveled less than a mile at a maximum altitude of 21 meters (70 feet) during its 20-second flight.
Either because of concerns over the craft's structural integrity, loss of interest after successfully flying the boat, or some other reason known only to the secretive Hughes, the H-4 was placed in storage. It never flew again. |