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.
A Formal dinner at the Hotel Astor in New York City, 1958. Wilbur Clark is located at the center of the picture, leaning his elbow on the table to the right. (Credit: Bill Mark, Park Sheraton Hotel, NYC.)
Description given with photo: "Radar Installed on Passenger Planes Culver City, Calif. -- Radar safety control system (cabinet, left, center) for passenger planes, demonstrated by Howard Hughes in a trans-world airline plane, at Culver City, May 1st. Radar, with 500 and 2,000 foot warning signals, tells the pilot when he is approaching obstacles. Equipment is being installed in planes flying routes from San Francisco eastward to Shanghai. Credit (ACME) 5/3/47."
Color; 55 x 45 cm., on sheet 95 x 47 cm., folded to 24 x 10 cm. Panel title: Las Vegas city map. Copyright held by Cardinal Publishing Company. Relief shown by hachures. Includes illustrations and advertisements. Index, text, illustrations, advertisements, and map of "Lake Mead National Recreation Area, lower basin section" on verso. Original publisher: Cardinal Publishing Company.
Howard Hughes leaving the cockpit of a Northrop Gamma, surrounded by a crowd at Newark New Jersey Airport. Hughes set a coast-to-coast speed record. A bank of microphones and a movie camera are seen beside the plane.
Scale [ca. 1:3,231,360. 1 in. to approx. 51 miles] (W 125°00--W 103°30/N 42°00--N 31°45) ; 1 map : hand col. ; 40 x 60 cm., on sheet 46 x 68 cm ; Relief indicated by hachures and spot heights ; Prime meridians: Greenwich and Washington, D.C ; Decorative border ; Hand colored ; Atlas p. numbers in upper margin: 58-59 ; Date est. from territorial borders and county configuration ; Shows natural features, locations of Indian tribes, proposed railroad routes, routes of explorers, trails, county boundaries and populated places ; Johnson and Ward
Transcribed from press release attached to back of photo: "NEW-DESIGN PHOTO PLANE COMPLETED CULVER CITY, Calif., July 7 -- test-flown today for the first time, the new XF-11 was revealed as one of the world's fastest long-range photographic planes. It was designed and built by Howard Hughes in conjunction with the Air Materiel command engineers. Army officials said that it can attain a speed of more than 400 miles per hour and a ceiling of more than 40,000 feet. The plane has a pressurized cabin making it unnecessary for the crew to use oxygen masks. Outstanding features include a full-span flap, unique eight-camera layout and exceptionally fast take-off." Transcribed from photo sleeve: "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."