Howard Hughes (second from left) standing in front of the experimental helicopter XH-17, Flying Crane, with others (from left to right): Rea Hopper, Director of the Aeronautical Division, Hughes Aircraft Company; Hughes; Clyde Jones, Director of Engineering, Hughes Tool Company Aeronautical Division; Warren Reed, Assistant; Colonel Carl E. Jackson from Air Research and Development Headquarters, Baltimore; Gale J. Moore, Pilot; possibly Chal Bowen, Flight Engineer/Co-pilot; and an unidentified man, October 23, 1952.
The Howard Hughes Professional and Aeronautical Photographs contain black-and-white photographs of businessman and entrepreneur Howard Hughes and his companies from 1916 to 1997. The photographs primarily depict Hughes alongside his aircraft, including the XF-11 prototype reconnaissance plane and the HK-1 Hercules, better known as the "Spruce Goose" or "Flying Boat." The photographs also cover the companies owned by Hughes, including Hughes Tool Company, Hughes Aircraft Company, Hughes Electronics Corporation, and RKO Pictures.
Howard Hughes in the Lockheed 14 in Los Angeles, California. Typed on a piece of paper attached to the image: "Howard Hughes off on first leaf of flight to Paris. Los Angeles, Cal. -- Howard Hughes, Millionaire oil man and speed flyer, at the controls of his huge Lockheed "Flying Laboratory" as it took off from here for its leisurely flight to New York, from where Hughes and his crew will fly to Paris and perhaps around the world. 7/4/1938 Credit line (ACME)."
Howard Hughes giving a news conference beside his airplane after landing in New York. This was his first flight after the nearly fatal XF-11 prototype crash in 1946.