Transcribed from press release attached to back of photo: "PENETRATES EARTH 16,000 FEET A surface approaching the hardness of the diamond is applied by a new atomic-hydrogen welding process to the teeth of a rock bit drill at the Hughes Tool Company plant in Houston, Texas, owned by Howard Hughes, noted aircraft designer-flyer. The first Hughes rock bit revolutionized oil drilling practices in this nation several decades ago, making possible recovery of oil beneath hard rock formations at great depths. Most recent models have penetrated the earth below 16,000 feet. Hughes drills are used in 50 foreign countries. NOTE: The atomic-hydrogen process differs from other arc-welding processes in that the arc is formed between two electrodes, rather than one electrode and the work." The patent on the atomic-hydrogen process was awarded October 29, 1929.
Color; 55 x 45 cm., on sheet 95 x 47 cm., folded to 24 x 10 cm. Panel title: Las Vegas city map. Copyright held by Cardinal Publishing Company. Relief shown by hachures. Includes illustrations and advertisements. Index, text, illustrations, advertisements, and map of "Lake Mead National Recreation Area, lower basin section" on verso. Original publisher: Cardinal Publishing Company.
Materials contain photographs of the Hughes H-1 Racer aircraft from 1935 to 1945. The photographs primarily depict Howard Hughes standing with the plane or in the plane's cockpit. The plane was designed by Glenn Odekirk and built by Hughes Aircraft Company in 1935, the first plane produced by the company. Hughes broke several records in the H-1, including the landplane speed record in 1935. In 1937, Hughes broke his own transcontinental speed record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York in 7 hours, 28 minutes. Despite its speed, Hughes was unable to sell the H-1 to the U.S. military.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Professional and Aeronautical Photographs
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Collection Number: PH-00321 Collection Name: Howard Hughes Professional and Aeronautical Photographs Box/Folder: N/A
Howard Hughes (second from left) standing in front of the experimental helicopter XH-17, Flying Crane in October 1952. From left to right: Rea Hopper, Director of the Aeronautical Division, Hughes Aircraft Company; Howard Hughes; Clyde Jones, Director of Engineering, Hughes Tool Company Aeronautical Division; Warren Reed, Assistant; Colonel Carl E. Jackson, Air Research and Development Headquarters, Baltimore; Gale J. Moore, Pilot; and Chal Bowen, Flight Engineer/Co-pilot.