Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Howard Hughes is welcomed by New York on return from Round the World flight. Grover Whalen is on the left. 7/15/38."

Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Contemplative smile. Here, Howard Hughes seems in rapt thought during one of the numerous speeches extolling his feat. Probably thinking of the "men who designed and perfected to its present remarkable state of efficiency, the modern American flying machine and equipment." (The quote is from his own official statement to the press.) Credit Lines (ACME) 7/15/38."

A view of the near-fatal crash of Howard Hughes' XF-11 in Culver City, California.

A view of the near-fatal crash of Howard Hughes' XF-11 in Culver City, California.

A view of the near-fatal crash of Howard Hughes' XF-11 in Culver City, California.

An overhead view of the near-fatal crash of Howard Hughes' XF-11 in Culver City, California.

Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Howard Hughes and his four companions honored at the National Press Club. Howard Hughes is speaking, with Mayor La Guardia and Secretary of State Cordell Hull at lower right. July 1938."