Goose was a lame duck
QUESTION Which aeroplane had the largest wingspan of all time? AMAZINGLY, even today the plane with the largest wingspan is the aircraft generally known as the Spruce Goose but, more correctly, as the HughesKaiser HK-1 Hercules with a wingspan of 320ft (97.5m).
The design was conceived in 1942 as a way of getting supplies across the Atlantic without ships having to run the gauntlet of German U-boats. Flying the Atlantic with significant cargo was extremely difficult, so the aircraft had to be very large.
The project was considered near impossible, so the American government would sanction it only if the aircraft were built from non-strategic materials, i.e. wood, as used for the British de Havilland Mosquito. All available aluminium was needed for building existing designs of aircraft.
Despite its nickname, the resulting aircraft was built largely of birch; only a tiny amount of spruce was used.
Three aircraft were ordered for $18 million ($250 m in today’s money), but by 1944 the first was still under construction. The U-boat threat had largely gone, so the government cancelled the other two and refused to accept delivery of the prototype. Henry Kaiser pulled out of the project and the aircraft was re-designated the H-4.
Building a single aircraft used up all the government funding and Howard Hughes provided another $7 million from his own pocket to complete it in 1946. The resulting aircraft was a gigantic flying boat powered by eight piston engines spread along its enormous wings.
It was considered to be a white elephant and Hughes was called before the Senate and accused of fraud. He survived the hearing, but the government never took the aircraft.
In 1947, Hughes took the aircraft out for ‘taxi trials’ at Long Beach, California, and after completing a few manoeuvres on the water, he took off for a flight that lasted 60 seconds.
After landing, Hughes taxied it to shore where it was placed in storage for more than 30 years. It is now kept in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. The next largest aircraft is the Airbus A380 with a wingspan of just over 262 ft, first flown in 2005 and powered by four turbofan engines.
Denis Sharp, Hailsham, East Sussex.
QUESTION Where does the surname Buick, as in the U.S. motor giant, come from?
THIS surname comes from Bewick, in Northumberland or the East Riding of Yorkshire. Bewick in Northumberland is recorded as Bowich in the Pipe Rolls of that county in 1167, and in the East Riding as Biuuich in the Domesday Book.
Allen Mawer, in his book The Placenames Of Northumberland And Durham (1920), says it is derived from the old English pre-7th century beo meaning bee and wic a farm; hence a bee farm: ‘The farm must have been famous for its bees when honey and beeswax were more highly prized than now.’
In the modern idiom, the name is found as Buick, Bowich, Bewick and Bewicke. The first recorded spelling of the family name is that of John de Bewic, dated 1219, in the Assize Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of Henry III. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation.
The Scottish/Irish form Buick was the surname of David Dunbar Buick (1854– 1929) who was born in Arbroath and moved to Detroit at the age of two. He founded the Buick motor company in 1903.
Arthur Redding, Hartlepool.
QUESTION Is it true that in the late 1700s the only clay used by Josiah Wedgwood had to be purchased from North America’s Cherokee community?
IN 1737, Andrew Duche, a Philadelphia Quaker, established a pottery in Savannah, Georgia. By October 1739 he had become the first person in the English- speaking world to make porcelain.
Moreover, in his examples, Duche had used clay from the Cherokee settlement of Ayoree in the mountains of North Carolina. The clay contained a mix of kaolin and petunze, essential ingredients in the making of porcelain.
Having learned from Duche the possibilities for making porcelain from Cherokee clay, a number of English manufacturers attempted to procure the raw material but interest faded because of the difficulty of obtaining it.
In 1766, Josiah Wedgwood rekindled the search for Cherokee clay in an effort to make a true porcelain to rival that of Meissen and Sevres on the Continent.
He commissioned Thomas Griffiths to obtain some of the clay. Griffiths arrived in Charleston in 1767 and made his way to Ayoree, returning to England in April 1768 with five tons of clay.
In November 1769, Wedgwood took out a patent for encaustic ornamentation using Cherokee clay. In 1773, Wedgwood wrote that he had used some of the clay in ‘gems and cameos’.
In the following year he was making jasperware (a porcelaneous stoneware), and by the end of 1777 he noted that all the jaspers he produced contained some Cherokee clay. Evidently, the supply lasted until 1783 when Wedgwood wrote that Cherokee clay was the basis for the new biscuit porcelain he was making.
By 1789 it was clear Wedgwood was no longer interested in Cherokee clay, for he declined an offer to secure extra supplies from America. The discovery of suitable clay in Cornwall ended the demand.
Tim Dowler, Worcester.
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