Howard Hughes and Noah Dietrich (the chief Executive Officer of the Howard Hughes Corporation from 1925-1957), during a dinner in Houston honoring Hughes' world flight.
Description printed on accompanying strip of paper: "Howard Hughes reading maps and studying his way in the meteorological office at the Le Bourget. July 1938"
Transcribed from attached press release: "HUGHES READY FOR TAKE-OFF IN SECOND XF-11 FLIGHT. CULVER CITY, Calif., April 5. Howard Hughes, famed flier-industrialist, recovered from injuries following crash last July 7, is shown here just before he test-piloted today a duplicate of the plane in which he nearly lost his life. He designed and built the plane, designated XF-11, and one of the world's fastest photo-reconnaissance ships, for the Army Air Forces in conjunction with the Air Materiel Command engineers."