Howard Hughes Had An Out Of Wedlock Dingy.
Photo of a Hughes Duramold Dingy. Photo Coutesty of Texx.
Forget the Terminators new revaluation of a secret love child with a house worker.. We have bigger news.. Ya got your Spruce Goose, and countless experimental airplanes.. Missile launching bra designs, Movies… And now.. ladies and gentlemen.. A dingy.. Yes.. a dingy.. Cough cough.. cue the crickets.. chirp chirp.. single clap, gafaw.. A dingy.. While old Mr Hughes was changing the way we all travel. Aparently he had the time to design a secret dingy on the side. And folks, thanks to fellow Woody Boater Bob Killeen who found this rare Hughes Sportster on Craigslist.
The one on Craigslist
And this one claims to be even more special that just being any old Digny.. Its from the Spruce Goose.. Yup..
Gota have a digny, just in case I suppose
Howard is not with us anymore. He no longer is locked up in his hotel room to comment on this revaluation. So right now all we have is the word of sale-ahyqm-2383463094@craigslist.org and his wild claim. AND NO IT DOES NOT SAY THAYER IV on the transom! Now.. You would think this would end here.. Ohhhh nooooo! Not with the crack research team.. No, our research team is not on crack by the way.. But our team.. OK its Texx, thats it.. Texx has found some more info on Hughes Sportsters.. Here is what Texx found on a Wood Boat Forum.. ” The story goes that there was a delay of the Govt. contract for the Goose and Howard put all his craftsman to work building these dinks (and some office furniture) using the same laminate birch process to be used on the plane.” Thats it.. Thanks Texx. And there you have it. Could this Dingy on Craigslist be the actual Spruce Goose Dingy? Is that really a woman you are meeting from Craigslist?
Yes I fathered that Digny.. I take full responsability for my actions.
I heard there were actually 3 “dignys” used on the Spruce Goose. The one on Craiglist was a backup. The one Howard personally used is still in a barn on Webster lake.
There must be more of them if the crew that built that plane were all put to work building dingys. Or there is alot of office funiture out there as well. Maybe he sold it to herman miller and he put his name on it? How many dingys can you get out of one spruce goose? I wonder if the funiture floated as well? Craigslist is fertile ground for finding interesting stuff and you do not have to loook at the personals.
Hey, maybe that was the escape pod on that Ruskie Sub Hughes raised with the CIA back in the day?
Sure looks like Russian tech to me?
“Glomar Explorer” or some such, was the cover name for that ship…..maybe???
Not interested unless the sale includes Howards very cool hat and those white loafers…..
James – I did some preliminary research on Howard’s loafers… They were his Designer Pre-War Deck Shoes made specifically for “The Goose”, discarded Post-War due to toe-nail issues… They are VERY Collectable if you find any with documentation… Oh by the way, worthless without documentation!
ya had me at toenail issues.
I’ve seen one of those beauties in Michigan. Freshwater model no doubt. Must be the third produced.
Duramold process used on Spruce Goose was used
on quite a few aircraft during early WWII-I didn’t know
about the Dingy or the furniture.
Thanks for the info!
I recently removed an old rowboat from my parents garage attic. I remember it hanging in my dad’s uncles basement around 1950. It has a small yellow sticker that says duramold and in extremely small print lists several patent numbers. It is made of molded plywood and has A34 stamped inside the bow. It has no rot and the floorboards and floorboard cleats are intact. Any idea where I can get more information. thanks it is not for sale
Check with the acbs there might be someone there.
I have a Hughes Sportster Dinghy for sale. I’m not sure what to ask. Needs restoration. All original hardware.
I also have a sportster I would like to sell. I would appreciate any info you can share on the value.
Try eBay or one of the brokers on this site. Also the trading dock on the chris craft site. Also if you live near ny the auction this weekend is a great place to sell thatnsort of stuff. Hope this helps