Howard Hughes bought this S-43 for his flight around the world but he changed his mind and used a Lockheed 14, NX18973, instead. As well as for pleasure flights, he later used the S-43 to train for flying the Spruce Goose, crashing it at Lake Mead in Nevada on 16 May 1943. Two people were killed, Hughes survived. At that time it wore US Army Corps of Engineers markings and spurious serial 74327. It was not s/n 42-1, which was ex NC16925. Hughes had his flying boat expensively salvaged and rebuilt and N440 still survives, owned by Kermit Weeks. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The Z.1012 was a three-engined travel aircraft of which a few examples were built with either four or six seats. MM367, the prototype, was assigned to the Italian embassy in Washington. In March 1942 this aircraft was seized by the US authorities at Bolling Field. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Named for the Norse seafarer Leif Erikson, this Loening flew from America to Norway via Labrador, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes. Photo must have been taken on 17 July 1935, the day Thor Solberg and Paul Oscanyan set out from New York. Solberg returned as he felt the plane was wrongly loaded and they took off again without any publicity the next day. They finally arrived in Bergen on 16 August. Solberg seems to have believed they were the first to fly from America to Norway, but Jimmie Mattern had flown, unintentionally but non-stop, from New York to Norway in 1933 in his second Lockheed Vega NR869E. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Swedish pilot Kurt Björkvall tried to fly this Bellanca across the Atlantic in October 1936 but he had to ditch 100 km short off the Irish coast. He was rescued by the French trawler Imbrim. Originally a CH-300W, the aircraft had supposedly been upgraded to CH-400W standard but was still called a Pacemaker, not a Skyrocket. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Spyplane! This was apparently the first of several L-12s registered to Australian pilot Sidney Cotton and fitted with concealed cameras at Heston to photograph German military preparations on behalf of MI6. Cotton led the RAF's No 1 PDU (Photographic Development Unit) after the outbreak of the war. G-AFKR was sold to France in April 1939, becoming F-ARQA, and similarly used by aerial photographer Roger Henrard on behalf of the Deuxième Bureau. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

In May 1937 Dick Merrill and Jack Lambie made a fast transatlantic return trip in this long-range L-10E Electra, to get high-quality photographs of King George VI's coronation to the USA as quickly as possible. This photo was taken a few days later. The first owner of this L-10 was Harold Vanderbilt. It later became USSR-N214. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

First flown on 1 September 1934, this racer was shipped to Europe on the liner Bremen for participation in the MacRobertson Air Race to Australia, but it had barely been tested and the race organisation would not allow Irish pilot James Fitzmaurice to take on 600 gallons of fuel, causing him to withdraw hours before the start. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The Gee Bee R-6 is being prepared for sea transport to Britain for the MacRobertson Air Race, following its unsuccessful participation in the Bendix Trophy in which it wore race number 77. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Lockheed Lodestars and Hudsons, and a Douglas Boston waiting to be shipped to Britain. L-18s G-AGBW and G-AGBX were registered on 6 March 1941 and delivered to BOAC in April. AGBW crashed near Nairobi on a flight from Cairo to Salibury (Harare) on 29 November 1944. All eleven people on board perished. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

It looks rather crude but the Blériot 110, designed by Italian engineer Filippo Zappata, broke several world records including a point-to point distance of 9105 km (5657 miles) flown from New York to Lebanon in August 1933. It had a span of 26.50 m (86 ft 11 in) and could carry 6000 litres of fuel near the centre of gravity forward of the two crew. The sole example was named Joseph Le Brix after the recently deceased long-range aviator in January 1932. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The first prototype Fw 200 Condor flew from Berlin - Staaken to New York in almost 25 hours. The aircraft does not carry its name Brandenburg nor any Lufthansa markings.

Gerd Achgelis in front of his Fw 44, then a top notch aerobatic aircraft. He came third in the first world aerobatic championships in Paris in June 1934 and then travelled to America for an aerobatic event at the 1934 National Air Races in Cleveland. The reg is confirmed as D-EPIZ. Nazi Germany had two flags at this time and the swastika flag was worn on the port side of the tailfin. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

About to be hoisted onto a barge 'for shipment, by Erickson and Remmert, to Czechoslovakia, at pier near Floyd Benett Field'- probably near the Coast Guard seaplane ramp. The Bata company's first L-10A Electra, also registered OK-CTA (c/n 1068) was damaged in Chicago on 4 April 1937. To complete his trip, shoe king Jan Bata immediately bought OK-CTB (c/n 1091). It has been assumed that OK-CTA (c/n 1068) was repaired, but it is clear now that Bata received another airframe (c/n 1114). Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Designed for the Bendix Trophy, the DGA-6 won the 1935 edition from Burbank to Cleveland and surprisingly this four-seat aircraft also won the 1935 Thompson Trophy pylon race. Mister Mulligan is apparently seen here before the start of the 1936 Bendix from NY to Los Angeles, during which it crashed in New Mexico due to a propeller failure. Pilot Ben Howard lost a leg. The wreck was salvaged 34 years later and used to build the first of two DGA-6 replicas. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The first Vega NR869E. Jimmie Mattern and Bennett Griffin, whose names are marked in the circle on the fuselage, flew this plane from Floyd Bennett Field to Berlin in July 1932 as part of a round-the-world attempt. They crashed in Belarus as the cabin door came off and struck the tailplane. Smaller parts of the wreck were returned to the USA and used in the refurbishment of Mattern's second Vega, ex NC106N, with the reg NR869E, too, carried over at his request. Both aircraft went by the name Century of Progress, but it is not worn here. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The second Vega NR869E. The first (c/n 69) crashed during a round-the-world flight. Salvaged parts were used to prepare this plane, ex NC106N with Standard Oil, for a second attempt. The Stanovo eagle on the fuselage formed the basis for a spectacular red on blue livery. Jimmie Mattern departed solo on 3 June 1933, but found navigation difficult and crashed due to the use of tractor fuel following an unscheduled landing in Siberia. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

In front of the Coast Guard hangar at Floyd Bennett Field. The source gives the same 6 July 1940 date for this as Rudy Arnold's other shots of this aircraft, but the special paint makes clear it was likely taken in February 1941, towards the end of its flight through the Americas. Rios Montenegro and Rivery Ortiz arrived at NOP on 4 February 1941 and departed for Havana via Miami one week later. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Lt Juan Rios Montenegro and Sgt Frank Media were happy to turn their plane around for Rudy Arnold's camera. With Oscar Rivery Ortiz, Rios Montenegro made a Pan-American flight through 22 countries in this aircraft between October 1940 and February 1941. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The Cuban navy, then the Marina de Guerra Constitucional, used this aircraft - not a DGA-8 - for a grand tour of the Americas starting on 12 October 1940. It is seen in New York earlier in 1940. Aviation photographer Rudy Arnold was based at Floyd Bennett Field and this is the north side of the airport, with the old Mill Basin Bridge visible on the far left. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The Herrick HV-2 Vertaplane could fly as a biplane or as an autogyro. The upper wing could be unlocked, but not locked in flight. The earlier HV-1 crashed, but the HV-2A successfully converted from fixed-wing to autogyro mode for the first time in July 1937 over its Boulevard Airport, Philadelphia base. Test flying had already begun in 1936 and this visit to Floyd Bennett Field took place in that year if the date is correct. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution