The black and white view of view of Hiram "Tommy" Thurlow and the Lockheed 14 aircraft in New York, New York. Typed on a piece of paper attached to the image: "Rolling Howard Hughes' plane of hangar at Floyd Bennett Field, with Lt. Thomas Thurlow, one of the navigators, calibrating the compass."
The Howard Hughes Film Production Records (1912-1992) represent Howard R. Hughes, Jr.'s Hollywood film production achievements through records from companies owned or established by Hughes. The bulk of the records date between 1926 and 1960 and include production and corporate materials from sixteen films, as well as materials related to Hughes' organizations outside of film development. Materials include documents, photographic prints and negatives, blueprints, line drawings, newspaper clippings, posters, paintings, and artifacts.
Transcribed from back of photo: "Howard Hughes in the cockpit of the new XF-11 reconnaissance plane which he designed and built in conjuntion with Air Material Command engineers. He is preparing for its first flight. One of the world's fastest long-range photo planes, it can attain a speed of over 400 miles per hour."