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.
Description given with photograph: "Howard Hughes tests the Hughes plane. Seattle--Howard Hughes (right), millionaire aviation enthusiast and record holder, shown with Edmund T. Allen, Boeing test engineer, before they made a recent test flight in a Boeing-built Stratoliner. The huge machine was equipped with extra fuel tanks for the test. Hughes did not reveal the reasons for his interest in the four-motored, 30 passenger plane, designed for substratosphere flight."