Description given with photo: "Pensive, Washington: Howard Hughes, millionaire plane manufacturer, ponders a question put to him during today's session (Aug. 6) of the Senate War Investigating Subcommittee. The subcommittee is investigating Hughes' war plane contracts. Credit line (ACME). 8/6/47."
Howard Hughes (left, in dark coat) noted designer, builder, and industrialist entering the hull of the Hughes Flying Boat, the largest airplane in the world, as it was nearing completion on Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor. With him is Joe Petralli, assistant director of service and flight.
Proposed plan for a remodel of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino from 1965. Original medium: pencil on parchment. Harold L. Epstein, structural engineer; J. L. Cusick and Associates, electrical engineers; W. L. Donley and Associates, mechanical engineers. Site Name: Frontier Address: 3120 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Materials contain photographs of the HK-1 Hercules, otherwise known as the "Spruce Goose" or the "Flying Boat," from 1945 to 1947. The photographs primarily depict the construction, transportation, and storage of the plane, but also include the first and only test flight of the HK-1 above Los Angeles Harbor in 1947. Howard Hughes designed the HK-1 as the world's largest plane, capable of transporting large quantities of U.S. military hardware and personnel. In 1947, under the program's new designation H-4 Hercules, Hughes had the plane transported from his factory in Culver City, California to Los Angeles Harbor. On November 2, he piloted the plane during its only test flight. The U.S. Air Force abandoned the controversial project, and Hughes was called to testify before the Truman Committee of the U.S. Senate to justify the use of government funds on a program that never succeeded.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Public Relations Photograph Collection
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Collection Number: PH-00373 Collection Name: Howard Hughes Public Relations Photograph Collection Box/Folder: N/A
Description given with photo: "102,246 - Watch Your Credit - International News Photo. Slug - (Howard Hughes) Hughes Ready For Senate Investigators, Washington, D.C. Howard Hughes, right, is interviewed by reporters at Washington National Airport after his arrival in a converted B-23 bomber from Culver City, X California. Hughes, there to face Senate Investigators, said he would be "most happy" to repeat under oath charges he has made against chairman Owen Brewster, (R) of Me., of the Senate War Investigating Committee now probing his wartime plane contracts. -Photo by G.B. Kress- 8/6/47."