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.
Description printed on photograph's accompanying sheet of paper: "Members of the Howard Hughes flight around the world are (L-to-R) Thomas Thurlow, navigator; Richard Stoddart, radio engineer; Ed Lund, mechanic and H. P. Connor, co-navigator, as they rode in the welcoming parade in New York City 7-15-38."