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Page 4  SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE  THIS WORLD

U.S. Planes Grow Larger and Larger

[[image - black & white photograph of Hughes' flying Boat on water]]
[[caption]] Photo of Hughes' flying Boat on this and cover page by Chronicle Staff Photographer Barney Peterson.

THE HUGHES HERCULES is a gold mine for dataphiles.  Its 200-ton bulk, just 25 tons lighter than the Statue of Liberty, reduces the old German giant, the 12-motored DOX to the status of a fat finch.  San Francisco's sprawling Cow Palace would be 10 feet too short and 10 feet too narrow to serve as a hangar for the world's biggest airplane which cost the U. S. Government $18,000,000 and builder Hughes between $7,000,000 and $9,000,000. [[/caption]]

AN 18-KNOT WIND whistling across San Petro's outer harbor raised whitecaps on the dirty bay water and wrinkled the clothes of hat-clutching spectators.  The harbor, except for a lane cleared by a Coast Guard cutter, was dotted with small craft.  And the small craft were jammed with excited, spray-drenched sightseers who had paid $1.50 a head to watch a plywood flying boat plow through the water.  Thousands of non-paying enthusiasts lined the breakwaters and piers.

The plane alone was worth the time and boatmen's fees.  It was the biggest in the world, and made a hovering helicopter look like an undersized dragon fly.

The first two runs were just what everybody expected and had been promised for all three.  Its huge engines dragged the plane through the water until it outdistanced PT boats roaring alongside.  But it didn't take off.  On the third try, pilot and builder Howard Hughes handed everyone a surprise.  The giant Hughes Hercules built up speed until it was skidding along at 95 miles an hour.  Hughes eased up on the control wheel and poured on the gas.  The Hercules stepped into the air to the cheers of the watchers and the delighted squeals of boat whistles.

The pride of millionaire Howard Hughes had kicked up a frothy wake long before it hit San Pedro harbor.  Last August Hughes had refused to act the traditionally defensive part of a congressional witness.  He had swapped insults with Senator Owen [[remainder cut off]]]]

[[image - black & white photograph of the Hercules seaplane on water]]
[[caption]] HERCULES MOORED drew eight feet of water and shipped only three pints during the trial.  Pilot faces eight sets of engine instruments plus the standard flight panel. [[/caption]]
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