Howard Hughes' flying boat docked at the Los Angeles Harbor, taken July 1947.

View of Hughes Flying Boat port bow in dry dock at Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor. Howard Hughes and Jack Jerman can be seen on the platform in the background.

Howard Hughes (holding script) talks with actor Walter Huston (sitting, at the left) on the set of the motion picture The Outlaw.

A view of Howard Hughes' Flying Boat being prepared for a test run in San Pedro, California.

Howard Hughes in the Lockheed 14 in Los Angeles, California. Typed on a piece of paper attached to the image: "Howard Hughes off on first leaf of flight to Paris. Los Angeles, Cal. -- Howard Hughes, Millionaire oil man and speed flyer, at the controls of his huge Lockheed "Flying Laboratory" as it took off from here for its leisurely flight to New York, from where Hughes and his crew will fly to Paris and perhaps around the world. 7/4/1938 Credit line (ACME)."

A view of Howard Hughes' Flying Boat being taken out for an unscheduled test run in Long Beach, California.

The Hughes Flying Boat in Los Angeles Harbor, November 2, 1947. A small boat, crowded with people, is seen in the harbor nearby. Los Angeles Harbor (Calif.)