The Hughes H-4 Hercules was a wooden transport flying boat developed by the American company Hughes Aircraft under the direction of Howard Hughes. This 136-ton aircraft, originally designated HK-1 and nicknamed the Spruce Goose, was the largest flying boat ever built, and its wingspan remains a record at 98 meters. The Hercules, piloted by Howard Hughes himself, made its first and only flight only on November 2, 1947, when it rose to a height of 21 meters and covered approximately two kilometers in a straight line over the Los Angeles harbor.