Transcribed from attached press release: "Howard Hughes, right, noted aircraft designer and industrialist is shown for the first time on the flight deck of the famed Hughes flying boat, which he designed and built. It is the largest airplane in the world. The plane is now nearing completion on Terminal Island, in Los Angeles-Long Bay Harbor, May 12, 1947." Los Angeles Harbor is now known as Long Beach Harbor, California.
Description given with photo: "Float Flying Boat, San Pedro, Calif.: Workmen prepare to float Howard Hughes' 200-ton plywood flying boat at San Pedro on Nov. 1st for taxi tests in Los Angeles Harbor. The craft can be seen in its mammoth drydock, where it was assembled and outfitted. Credit Line (ACME) 11/04/47."
Howard Hughes giving a news Conference beside his airplane after landing in New York. This was his first flight after the nearly fatal XF-11 prototype crash in 1946.