Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Attending a banquet in honor of Howard Hughes were L to R: Mayor Frank Shaw of Los Angeles, Howard Hughes, Will Hays, and Gov. Frank Merriam."
Howard Hughes checking the instrument panel of the HK-1 Hughes Flying Boat (400,000 pound, 24,000 horsepower airplane) with his crew before the taxi tests, at Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor.
Description given with photo: "Testify On Behalf Of Hughes, Washington: Four of the nine witnesses summoned before the Senate War Investigating Subcommittee to testify on behalf of Howard Hughes stand behind the plane builder (seated, right) and his attorney, Thomas A. Slack (seated, left), November 8. they are (left to right) John B. Parkinson, listed as representative of the national Advisory Committee for Aeronautics; Edward Schwartz, listed as a former member of the Air Force Evaluation Boar; E. A. Peterman, and Glen Odekirk, an executive of the Hughes' Plant. Credit (ACME) 11/08/47."