39 x 62 cm. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. Prime meridian: Greenwich and Washington. Hand colored. Shows natural features, populated places, routes of mail steamships, routes of explorers, locations of Indian tribes, railroad routes, and proposed railroad routes. In top margin: No. 80-81. On verso: New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Dakota (statistics and other information) and The state of California (statistics and other information). Original publisher: G.W. and C.B. Colton.
Transcribed from press release attached to back of photo: "NEW PHOTO PLANE TEST-FLOWN CULVER CITY, California, July 7 -- Howard Hughes, who designed and built the new FX-11 reconnaissance plane in conjunction with Air Materiel Command engineers, sits in the pilot's bubble-glass canopy preparing for the first test flight. One of the world's fastest long-range photo planes, the XF-11 can attain a speed of more than 400 miles per hour, Army officials said. It is powered by two 3000-horsepower radial engines with eight-bladed contra-rotating propellers. 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.