Howard Hughes under the propeller of his Douglas DC-3 aircraft. The photo was taken right before or after his first flight since the nearly fatal XF-11 crash in 1946.
Transcribed from attached press release: "HUGHES TEST-PILOTS SECOND XF-11. CULVER CITY, Calif., April 5. Preparatory to making its first flight test today, Howard Hughes, famed flier-industrialist, is shown in the cockpit of the second XF-11 sister ship to the plane in which he almost lost his life in an accident last July 7. Hughes designed and built the ship, one of the world's fastest long-range reconnaissance planes for the Army Air forces in conjunction with the Air Materiel Command engineers."
Description given with photo: "Float Flying Boat, San Pedro, Calif.: Workmen prepare to float Howard Hughes' 200-ton plywood flying boat at San Pedro on Nov. 1st for taxi tests in Los Angeles Harbor. The craft can be seen in its mammoth drydock, where it was assembled and outfitted. Credit Line (ACME) 11/04/47."