August 2009 – March 2010
Well before humans flew in airplanes, models served to envision aircraft in flight. With the end of World War I, European commercial airlines began to develop mail and passenger services using converted surplus bombers. By the 1920s, manufacturers in Europe and North America were developing aircraft specifically designed for commercial airlines and the passenger market. Often aircraft companies had in-house model shops create prospective airliners in miniature to scale. Model makers honed their craft, creating minutely detailed versions of airliners. Exteriors as well as interiors were carefully and accurately represented in wood, metal, and paint.
Just as models of bridges or buildings helped engineers and architects plan for construction in full scale, aircraft models were essential to designers for developing their ideas into a final product, while at the same time enabling prospective customers to visualize new airliners for their fleet. In order to promote air travel to potential passengers, the airlines had models dispersed to travel agents for display in their offices. As airliners developed through the 1920s and 1930s, they progressively flew faster, higher, and farther and could carry more passengers. During this period, considered the "Golden Age of Commercial Aviation," performance and endurance records were often broken and new commercial air routes were established at an ever-quickening pace to eventually span the globe by the late 1930s. The aircraft that accomplished these feats often became memorialized in models.
All objects are from the Collection of Anthony J. Lawler unless otherwise noted.
Photography is not permitted.
©2009 by San Francisco Airport Commission. All rights reserved