"Dream To Fly"

I have the unique opportunity to review a DVD that probably only a small handful of people have ever seen, or even heard of, but I enjoyed it so much, I thought I would share it with you folks that visit my blog.

The name of the DVD is “Dream To Fly,” For those of you who have ever watched the movie, “The Aviator,” or have ever been any kind of aviation fan, or buff, this is definitely worth buying for your collection.

I recently visited the Oregon coast for a family reunion, and had the wonderful pleasure of visiting the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville that is now the finally resting place of “The Flying Boat,” or as it is more commonly know, “The Spruce Goose.” This is the largest wooden plane ever built. It was built by the late Howard Hughes originally as a military transport, but as the war ended, the contract for building three of these mammoth plans was cancelled. Howard continued his work on this plane, spending a huge amount of money out of his own pocket, until it was finally completed. It was taken out for a test run on the eve of his appearance before a senate investigation claiming Howard Hughes had illegally spent the government’s money for this plane on partying and other things not related to the contract.

On this test run, the plane was not meant to fly. Many people did not believe it was even capable of flight because of its enormous size, and weight. Howard taxied the plane a couple of times, and on his final pass, he shocked the world as the behemoth lumbered out of the water, and into the air soaring some seventy feet, for almost a mile before he gently set the plane back down in the water. Howard's response to the press folks inside the plane was "I like to make surprises." The plane unfortunately never flew again, but it has managed to be kept from being disassembled, and junked.

After a long stay on the waterfront of Long Beach California, sitting next to the “Queen Marry,” the monster creation of Howard Hughes was finally purchased, and moved to its location in Oregon where it is now the centerpiece of a fantastic collection of vintage planes in a hanger / museum built especially for the Spruce Goose.

This DVD, narrated by Walter Cronkite, tells the full story of Howard Hughe's youth, to his rise as a wealthy owner of his fathers company, a famous movie director, and to the inception of the HK-1 Flying Boat, and goes on through with beautiful detail, the extreme process that went into constructing this plane. The archival footage is spectacular, and some of it has never been shown before until the release of this DVD.

For anyone who has ever had any interest in the history of recorded flight, The HK-1 is a piece of history for all time, and this DVD chronicles it’s story wonderfully. I encourage you if you are ever on the west coast, to make a special trip to the Evergreen Aviation Museum, and see for yourself the gigantic size of this gorgeous plane. Yes, you can actually stand inside the plane!

Since this DVD was put together by the museum itself, it is not for sale in any other place other then buying it at the museum (which I was lucky enough to do) or purchase it on line through the museums web site which I will list below. Click under “Museum Store” and then under “DVD”

I give this historical DVD a rating of 9.00 out of 10.00

http://www.sprucegoose.org/