3555 - McMinnville, Oregon, United States of America

I love these type of cards! The sender is from McMinnville, which is located in the Willamette Valley and along the Yamhill River. It is home to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, which houses the Spruce Goose (Hughes H-4 Hercules
), Howard Hughes' flying boat. He built a prototype and wanted to utilize it as a Trans-Atlantic transport plane during World War II. It was completed in time. However, on 2 November 1947, the plane made one brief flight

The plane was made from birch wood using the Duramold process. Wartime restrictions on aluminum, and concerns about the weight of the craft were cited for using wood. Critics gave it the name Spruce Goose, but mechanics allegedly gave it the nickname Birch Bitch.

The plane was designed to carry 68 000 kg, or 750 fully equiped soldiers, or two 30 ton M4 Sherman tanks.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules would be manned by a crew of 3, be almost 67 m long, and have a wingspan of 98 m. It's empty weight was almost 114 000 kg. Twenty-eight Pratt and Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major 28-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 3000 hp each, would power the plane. The cruise speed would be 400 km/h, with a flight range of 4800 km. It would be able to fly at 6400 m.

The plane cost USD$23 million (almost USD$250 000 in 2023 dollars).

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3227 - Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Mölln is a small city of about 20 000 located in northern Germany. The Elbe-Lübeck Canal flows through the town, and there are eight small lakes that surround the city. It was founded in the 12th century and was a part of the Old Salt Route. Salt that was produced in the salt mines of Lower-Saxony was shipped to the Baltic Sea. Till Eulenspiegel, a legendary trickster known for exposing vices and provoking thought, is said to have lived in Mölln the last year of his life. He apparently died of the plague in 1350, but his existence has never been proven. Mölln has several monuments dedicated to him.

3322 - Hamburg, Germany

Happy birthday to me! What a lovely handmade card from the sender. Beautiful penmanship. Am Rothenbaum is the site of the main court of the German Open Tennis Championships. The International German Open has been played at the Rothernbaum since 1892, making it Germany's longest running tennis tournament. The current stadium was built in 1999 and can hold 13 200 people.

3232 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States of America

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Light was built in 1882. There were nine keepers of the light until 1897. It was redesigned in 1903 and is 12 meters high. The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was started in 1872 and wasn't opened for large-scale watercraft until 1890. The canal is 2.1 kilometers long that goes from Sturgeon Bay in Lake Michigan to Green Bay. There are no locks on this canal. The canal was sold to the United States government in 1893 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the canal.

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