Hughes' aircraft (the XF-11) sitting on the tarmac before its first test flight in Culver City, California in April of 1947. Newspaper clipping taped to the back of the image reads: "#11, Long-Range Plane Completed. Culver City, Calif. -- The new Hughes XF-11 is a very fast photographic plane with a ceiling of more than 40,000 feet. It has a pressurized cabin, making it unnecessary for the crew to use oxygen masks. It is shown here before it made its first test flight."
Transcribed from attached press release: "Wide World Photos Please Credit A-63899 (Part of Series) $58,000 LONG BEACH, CAL. A view of the hull of Howard Hughes new $20,000,000 cargo flying boat at the pontoon bridge, ready to be moved from Long Beach to Terminal Island in Los Angeles Harbor, there is a graving dock it will be assembled with other parts of the ship."
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.
A section of Howard Hughes' 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.
A section of Howard Hughes' 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.