Howard Hughes inspecting one of his planes. Image taken circa late 1940s/early 1950s.

The Hughes Flying Boat taking off (or landing) in the Los Angeles Harbor, November 2, 1947. Los Angeles Harbor (Calif.)

Transcribed from attachment to photo: "TOUGH TEST - A hard formation drilling test is begun in the big laboratory at Hughes Tool Company, Houston, Texas, where any drilling condition found anywhere in the world can be duplicated. Here, where the vast majority of rock bits used in the U. S. and Canada are produced, is the cornerstone of Howard Hughes' industrial empire; it was principally the income from the oil drilling equipment company which enables Hughes to branch out into many other fields."

Howard Hughes sits in a chair in front of a film editing desk. Behind the desk are shelves holding various reels of film. A film editing machine is seen on the desk.

Howard Hughes (second from left) standing in front of the experimental helicopter XH-17, Flying Crane, with others (from left to right): Rea Hopper, Director of the Aeronautical Division, Hughes Aircraft Company; Hughes; Clyde Jones, Director of Engineering, Hughes Tool Company Aeronautical Division; Warren Reed, Assistant; Colonel Carl E. Jackson from Air Research and Development Headquarters, Baltimore; Gale J. Moore, Pilot; possibly Chal Bowen, Flight Engineer/Co-pilot, and an unidentified man, on October 23, 1952.

An overhead view of the near-fatal crash of Howard Hughes' XF-11 in Culver City, California.