Transcribed press release from back of photograph: "Howard Hughes' flying boat, world's largest plane, rides free off Terminal Island in Los Angeles Harbor immediately after its launching yesterday. The plane's vertical stabilizer tip rides about 80 feet above the water as the air giant floats for the first time. With Hughes at the controls, the colossal craft will get first water taxi tests today."

Howard Hughes in the pilot's chair with (left to right) Dave Evans, Rae Hopper, and crew chief Charles Jucker (in the dark jacket).

An aerial view of Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor, showing Hughes Aircraft Company and the industrialization of the area.

The HK-1, Hughes Flying Boat (with the number NX37602 on tail visible) in the water on Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor.

Howard Hughes checking the instrument panel of the HK-1 Hughes Flying Boat (400,000 pound, 24,000 horsepower airplane) with his crew before the taxi tests, at Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor.

RKO Pictures' blimp advertising their movie, "The Outlaw," that starred Jane Russell and was released in February 1943. The blimp is stored in a warehouse.

An aerial photograph with a city map in the upper left corner. Transcribed description from back of the photograph: "AAF' 'Shooting Star' does mapping at 475 mph. An Army Air Forces XFP-80, the 'Shooting Star' built by Lockheed recently made a 51 minute run from Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., photographing 16,000 square miles of territory along the route for mapping purposes. The flight established a new record in photographic mapping, covering 314 square miles per minute. A new tri-metrogen K-17-B aerial camera installation, consisting of three cameras positioned and times to record the terrain from horizon to horizon was used. The test flight proved the new jet type aircraft perfect for any Air Forces mapping job. Jets, due to the lack of vibration, allow perfect exposure in minute detail without the use of intricate stabilized camera mounts."