Howard Hughes' 400,000 pound Flying Boat flying 70 feet above the water for one-mile during taxi tests over the Los Angeles Harbor with Hughes at the controls. Hughes had scheduled taxi tests only for the 219-foot long ship, but it "felt so good" on the second taxi test run at 95 miles per hour that he took it off the water on the third and final run, which is shown in the photo.

From the Nye County, Nevada Photograph Collection (PH-00221) -- Series IV. Pahrump, Nevada -- Subseries IV.A. Hughes Family. Hughes believes the motel was constructed around 1920 by the Pahrump Valley Company, under the ownership of Isodore Dockweiler, to house Dockweiler and his associates when they visited the ranch. It featured a screened porch, one bathroom, running water, a flush toilet, a kitchen, and four bedrooms. The "motel" burned down in the early 1940s.

The Hughes Aircraft HK-1 "Flying Boat" floating in Los Angeles Harbor.

Press Release attached to photo: "HUGHES HERCULES READY FOR TESTS. LONG BEACH, CAL. An aerial view shows Howard Hughes' giant plywood seaplane Hercules ready for taxi tests at Long Beach. The initial flight of the plane, which cost $20,000,000 and will seat 700 persons, will not be attempted until early in 1947. ACME 10/13/46." Los Angeles Harbor, Terminal Island are now known as Long Beach.

Press release attached to back of photo: "A roughneck fits a new Hughes Jet bit into the drill collar preparatory to running the drill stem into the hold. In 1953 more than 500,000 rock bits produced by the Hughes Tool Company of Houston, Texas, were used in the United States alone. The invention of the rock bit by Howard R. Hughes, Sr., made it possible to drill far deeper into the earth beyond the shallow oil deposits which are now practically exhausted. Without rotary drilling equipment of this kind the world might revert to a horse and buggy economy."