Description given with photograph: "Howard Hughes after landing in New York after a high altitude flight from Los Angeles during which he tested a new two-ounce oxygen mask. With him were (L to R): Charles Perrine, Glenn Odekirk, and Harry Connor."
The black and white view of view of Hiram "Tommy" Thurlow and the Lockheed 14 aircraft in New York, New York. Typed on a piece of paper attached to the image: "Rolling Howard Hughes' plane of hangar at Floyd Bennett Field, with Lt. Thomas Thurlow, one of the navigators, calibrating the compass."
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.
The black and white view of Howard Hughes surrounded by a crowd of people in France. Text printed on accompanying strip of paper: "Howard Hughes as he landed in Paris on the first leg of his round-the-world flight. 7-11-38."