Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Chicago Cheers Hughes and Companions, Chicago -- Howard Hughes, leader of the quintet that flew Around the World in 3 days, 19 hours, and Mayor Edward J. Kelly, of Chicago, riding at the head of the parade that the city staged in honor of Hughes and his four companions. Credit Lines (ACME) 7/30/38. (NY)."
Howard Hughes sits at the controls of his 400,000 pound Flying Boat just a day prior to its first tests in the Los Angeles Harbor in California. The aircraft was 219 feet long with a wing span of 320 feet.