From the Howard Cannon Photograph Collection (PH-00192). Stamped on verso: "Las Vegas News Bureau - Las Vegas, Nevada Convention Center - Photographers Don English, Joe Buck, Jerry Abbott, Milt Palmer"
Description given with photo: "Before Surprise Flight, Long Beach, Calif.: No longer land-locked, Howard Hughes' 200-ton flying boat, world's largest plane, rides free in Los Angeles harbor after being floated for the first time. The builder and pilot later took the controversial plane into the air for a surprise one-mile flight during taxing trials. Credit (ACME) 11-3-47."