Date stamped on back of photo: April 3, 1947. Transcribed from attached press release: "HUGHES FLIES DUPLICATE OF CRASH PLANE CULVER CITY, Calif., April 5 -- Howard Hughes, famed flier-industrialist, today test-piloted the plane pictured here, a duplicate of the XF-11 photo-reconnaissance ship which he nearly lost his life in an accident last July 7. He designed and built the plane for the Army Air forces in conjunction with the Air Materiel Command engineers. He has recovered from the injuries sustained last year when the freak propeller trouble dashed the original XF-11 to earth. As usual, he today took personal responsibility for the first test flight of the new plane." The actual flying date is April 4, 1947.
The Edward C. Light Schematic Drawings of the Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" Seaplane consists of blueline print reproductions of sheets created between 1941 and 1950 containing schematic engineering design drawings pertaining to the aircraft's rudder and flight control system assembly and installation. Types of drawings include full body perspective diagrams, structural sections, elevations, and plans.