Spruce Goose May Move to N. County
Owners of the fabled Spruce Goose said Tuesday that they plan to move the world’s largest airplane from Long Beach, its home for 45 years.
The wooden plane, now displayed under a giant dome near the ocean liner Queen Mary, may be moved to Oceanside, Las Vegas, Oregon or Florida, according to William Shoneberger, president of Aero Exhibits Inc., the aircraft’s owner.
Shoneberger’s company has been searching for a new site since the Walt Disney Co., which manages the Spruce Goose and the Queen Mary as tourist attractions, announced in March that it would not renew its management lease after Sept. 30.
On Monday, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners asked Disney to extend its contract through the end of the year to give authorities more time to find a new operator for the historic Queen Mary. Port officials and several Disney executives met Tuesday in an effort to work out an agreement.
While officials are debating the future of the Queen Mary attraction, they have said little about the late billionaire Howard Hughes’ “flying boat,” other than emphasizing that it is not their responsibility.
“Neither the port nor the city of Long Beach has indicated any intent . . . of keeping the flying boat where it is,” Shoneberger said. “The flying boat is a historic piece of aviation heritage (and needs an) appropriate setting.”
Relocating the plane is no small task. Its wingspan alone is the equivalent of a football field--including both end zones.
After receiving inquiries from all over the world, offers were reduced to six serious proposals and a final decision should be made by early July, Shoneberger said.
The closest site is Oceanside, where a private, nonprofit group called the Oceanside Tourism Foundation would like to manage it, according to Shoneberger. Other locations being considered are Las Vegas; Miami; Tampa, Fla.; the Port of Tillamook, Ore., and McMinnville, Ore.
Moving the plane could cost $1.5 million to $10 million depending on where it goes and how it is transported, Shoneberger said.
The giant plane has been moved only a few times. Hughes originally built it to carry troops during World War II. But the plane wasn’t completed until after the war.
On Nov. 3, 1947, Hughes flew it briefly for the first and only time. The plane traveled about a mile as it skimmed the surface of the Long Beach Harbor before it splashed down.
Shoneberger said there are no plans to dismantle the historic plane.
“It was,” he said, “is now and will probably forever be the world’s largest airplane.”
