To view this story of “The Giants,” just click on the above photo and enjoy the journey back in time.  The video is about 51 minutes long and shows colorful footage of the big flying “ships” of the late 1930’s right up to the current time, where you will learn how a few former post WWII U.S. Navy Flying Boats are still being successfully used in Canada to fight  forest fires.

The largest flying boat ever built was the extraordinary experimental aircraft built by the enigmatic aviation pioneer and maverick, Howard Hughes.  This huge and one-of-a-kind, so-called “Spruce Goose,” still lives as an impressive static display experience for those who are fortunate enough to visit it at the “Evergreen Museum,” about an hour’s drive out of Portland, OR, near the town of McMinnville, OR.

The well produced video also provides some fascinating footage of the “Goose’s” famous open water taxi test – one that ended up as its one – and only – flight.  It was a flight which also helped redeem the rapidly sinking reputation of its designer and builder, Mr. Hughes.  His reputation was about to be destroyed by the growing crowd of nay-sayers, both inside and outside of the Federal Government, who claimed the large Flying Boat would never fly, nor could it fly.