A section of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" or "Flying Boat" being moved (with a police escort) from the Hughes Aircraft plant in Culver City, California to Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor where the plane was assembled in June of 1946. Date stamped on back of photo.
Ashley Hall was born April 3, 1943 in Caliente, Nevada. After high school, he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad at the Nevada Test Site as a cashier and as a signalman. He later attended Brigham Young University and the University of Nevada, Reno. After college, Hall served the City of Las Vegas in significant ways. Notably, as City Manager he was instrumental in the initial development of Summerlin, Nevada. Though he has retired from local politics, he remains active as the President of the Old Spanish Trail Association and as the U.S. Army Reserve Ambassador.
Along with the information is this card entitled "Record Breaker." It reads: "First product of Hughes Aircraft Company was Howard Hughes' uniquely designed H-1. Experts said it was farther ahead of its time than any plane built since the Wright brothers'. In 1935 Hughes flew the H-1 to a world's land plane speed record of 352 mph, many years before any military pursuit planes attained this speed, and in 1937 Hughes flew the H-1 from Los Angeles to New York in seven hours, 28 minutes, a record which stood for eight years. The H-1 was the first plane with a smooth metal surface, leading edge air duct intakes, jet thrust exhaust, bell-shaped cowling, drooping ailerons, and the first to have a power-driven retractable landing gear. -0- "
Howard Hughes (second from left) standing under the blade of the XH-17, Flying Crane with L-R: 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, Air Research and Development Headquarters; Gale. J. Moore, Pilot; Chal Bowen?, Flight Engineer/Co-Pilot; unidentified pilot. Photographers are seen in the foreground.