Howard Hughes speaks into two microphones as he gives a news conference beside the Douglas DC-3, after landing in New York. This was his first flight after the nearly fatal crash of the first XF-11. A number of officials and onlookers stand nearby.
Howard Hughes sits in the cockpit of the XF-11, a reconnaissance plane that Hughes built and designed in conjunction with Air Materiel Command engineers. Hughes is preparing for his first test flight in Culver City, California July 7, 1947.