Abstract
The Bob McCaffery Collection on the Save the Hughes Flying Boat Campaign (1980-1983) documents efforts by activists to preserve the plane from destruction and its subsequent acquisition by the Aero Club of Southern California in 1980. The collection contains photographs and newspaper clippings about the Hughes H-4 Hercules flying boat nicknamed the "Spruce Goose" from the 1980s.
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Date
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Scope and Contents Note
The Bob McCaffery Collection on the Save the Hughes Flying Boat Campaign (1980-1983) documents efforts by activists to preserve the plane from destruction and its subsequent acquisition by the Aero Club of Southern California in 1980. The collection contains photographs and newspaper clippings about the Hughes H-4 Hercules flying boat nicknamed the "Spruce Goose" from the 1980s.
Access Note
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
The Hughes H-4 Hercules, nicknamed the "Spruce Goose," was designed by the Hughes Aircraft Company. It has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history and was designed as a transatlantic transport during the Second World War. The plane was not finished before the end of the war, and its only flight occurred on November 2, 1947. After its flight, Hughes had a hangar constructed around the plane in Long Beach, California.
After Hughes' death in 1976, his Summa Corporation decided to dismantle the plane and send pieces of it to museums across the United States. McCaffery's Committee to Save the Hughes Flying Boat led public protest of the plan and Summa instead donated the boat to the Aero Club of Southern California, who then leased it to the Wrather Corporation. Wrather also had the lease to the Queen Mary in Long Beach and moved the boat to a domed hangar next to the Queen Mary in 1982, opening it to the public in 1983. The Walt Disney Company purchased the Wrather Corporation in 1988, taking over Wrather's leases in Long Beach. Disney decided to discontinue the leases in 1992.
The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon purchased the Hughes H-4 Hercules in 1992. After disassembly, the boat was transported to Oregon, and in 2001, Hughes Flying Boat was fully reassembled in its new home.
Preferred Citation
Bob McCaffery Collection on the Save the Hughes Flying Boat Campaign, 1980-1983. MS-00693. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated by Bob McCaffery in 2014; accession number 2014-103.
Processing Note
Materials were minimally processed at time of accessioning by Lindsay Oden in 2014 in compliance with current professional standards. Subsequently Lindsay Oden entered the data into ArchivesSpace. In 2018, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Angela Moor revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards.