The black and white view of unidentified people surrounding the Lockheed 14 aircraft. Typed on a piece of paper attached to the image: "Rolling Howard Hughes' plane out of hangar at Floyd Bennett Field, with Lt. Thomas Thurlow, one of the navigators, calibrating the compass. 7/9/38."
Howard Hughes inspecting the equipment on the flight deck inside of the HK-1, Hughes Flying Boat, which he designed and built. The man pictured behind Hughes is possibly Earl Martyn, Hughes' flight engineer. The Flying Boat was near completion and was located on Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor.