Howard Hughes checking the instrument panel of the HK-1 Hughes Flying Boat (400,000 pound, 24,000 horsepower airplane) with his crew before the taxi tests, at Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor.
The black and white view of the Lockheed 14 aircraft. Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Take-off from Floyd Bennett Airport for Paris on first lef of Round the World flight at 7:20 P.M. E.D.T. piloted by Howard Hughes with crew of four."
Materials contain photographs of the HK-1 Hercules, otherwise known as the "Spruce Goose" or the "Flying Boat," from 1945 to 1947. The photographs primarily depict the construction, transportation, and storage of the plane, but also include the first and only test flight of the HK-1 above Los Angeles Harbor in 1947. Howard Hughes designed the HK-1 as the world's largest plane, capable of transporting large quantities of U.S. military hardware and personnel. In 1947, under the program's new designation H-4 Hercules, Hughes had the plane transported from his factory in Culver City, California to Los Angeles Harbor. On November 2, he piloted the plane during its only test flight. The U.S. Air Force abandoned the controversial project, and Hughes was called to testify before the Truman Committee of the U.S. Senate to justify the use of government funds on a program that never succeeded.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Public Relations Photograph Collection
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: PH-00373 Collection Name: Howard Hughes Public Relations Photograph Collection Box/Folder: N/A
Oral history interview with Hugh Key conducted by Bob Bush on February 21, 1980 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Key discusses spending over thirty years in Las Vegas, Nevada. His wife, Mrs. Key, is also present during the interview and offers a few remarks.
The people associated with Howard Hughes series dates from 1947-1976 and is composed entirely of reference files of newspaper clippings that document Hughes employees, business associates, competitors, and relatives, as well as politicians and government officials that were of interest to Hughes.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Public Relations Reference Files
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: MS-00380 Collection Name: Howard Hughes Public Relations Reference Files Box/Folder: N/A