CollectAir is a real "brick and mortar", traditional aviation art gallery chock full of original art, prints, sculpture, vintage display models, new American-made and foreign-made hand-crafted models, ephemera, vintage model airplane exhibits with old kits and engines for sale, books and aeronautical artifacts. A few items are for display only but most are for sale. A Friend or Foe? museum of recognition training aids is an adjunct to the gallery. CollectAir is not a cyberspace or magazine ad/POB gallery pretending to be the real article. Because the number of aviation enthusiasts who are also serious collectors is rather limited in any one geographic area, I want to share the collection with aeronautical buffs throughout the world and the internet is the only attractive venue for a small business. This site represents an extension of the gallery and museum located in the downtown historic art district of Santa Barbara, California. Please browse this "alcove" often as exhibits change; feel free to buy something!. Included is an overview of the gallery and the Museum of Aircraft Recognition, occasional articles of aviation interest, and pictures and descriptions of a limited number of selected items offered for sale. The on-line "catalogue" will be frequently changed so visit CollectAir often to catch the newest offerings. Drop by and have an aeronautical treat the next time you are in the Santa Barbara area. Call ahead for an appointment; I do want to visit with you.

Be advised that this is NOT a collection of hundreds of aviation prints but is a thinking man's website. Our goal is to provide the aviation enthusiast with an eclectic "zine" spanning many eras and containing both text and graphics. Conventional wisdom is that viewers will not read - that's O.K. because if you're really interested in, and possibly would like to buy, aviation art, ephemera, books, collectibles etc., then our textual content and graphics will be of value to you. This is not a comic book.

Newsweek magazine announced a new policy in October 2007; it states, in a way, the philosophy that manifests itself on this website with regard to reading and information:

We have two pieces of news close to home: a redesign of the magazine and of Newsweek.com. Our renovations come at an interesting time for journalism. As the number of news outlets expands, it is said, attention spans shrink; only the fast and the pithy will survive. Some people in our business believe print should emulate the Internet, filling pages with short, Weblike bites of information.

We disagree. There is a simple idea behind the changes in the issue of NEWSWEEK you are holding; we are betting that you want to read more, not less. Other media outlets believe you just want things quick and easy. We think you will make the time to read pieces that repay the effort.

Check out the list of "department links", and it's growing. SEE THE PAGE LINKS AT LEFT FOR PAGES ON THIS WEBSITE; A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS AND ITEMS FOR SALE AND DON'T MISS THE "ARTICLES" PAGE AS NEW DISCUSSIONS WILL BE POSTED THERE. Ordering information is given at the bottom of each catalog page and complete credit card and ordering information is located on the PRODUCTS page link.

CollectAir is a division of Progressive Aviation Ltd., a California corporation established in 1965. Progressive was heavily involved in all aspects of the general aviation business in San Jose, California for many years and the CollectAir gallery was created in 1987 to add aviation art to the existing business entities. The gallery and museum operation was relocated to Santa Barbara in 1999 and the San Jose facility sold in 2000; since then, the gallery has been Progressive's sole business. Steve Remington is the proprietor and sole employee. The gallery's address is 1324 De La Vina St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101, (805) 560-1323 or always available at cell (408) 828-2810. Premises generally OPEN to visitors in the afternoons, Tuesday through Saturday by appointment or chance, but feel free to call for times. Appointments available at other hours and are encouraged. I realize that revealing one's self is a risky business as you may take one look and decide that this guy is going to scare the horses. And as you can easily judge, it's not an ego thing! However, I do want to differentiate CollectAir from the faceless enterprises which we all encounter every day on the internet or in catalogs. The real estate crowd, doctors, lawyers and car dealers frequently picture themselves in that "See, you can trust me" mode although I'm coming from a different angle - I want you to see who that guy is on the other end of the telephone or computer and who the person is that is responsible for anything that goes on at CollectAir. Darts or bouquets get thrown at the fellow you see below, Steve Remington. I don't have a fulfillment center in Nebraska nor a telephone bank in Calcutta.

CollectAir has a classy "Gate Guard"; a Korean War vintage Corsair, in 1:6 scale model form, mounted (daytime) in our front yard as seen in the picture below, courtesy of photographer Harris Berkowitz. This all-weather model is in the markings of Marine Squadron VMA-312 (VMF-312 in 1950-51), the "Checkerboard Squadron", as of March 1953 when operating from the carrier USS Bataan off of Korea. A currently flying F4U-5 Corsair, owned by Jim Read, is in this same marking (#5). The Corsair is important to Santa Barbara history as Marine squadrons flew and trained from the Santa Barbara Airport during WWII; the Blacksheep Squadron, VMF-214, reformed and trained in Santa Barbara in Corsairs.

Jim Read's F4U-5 of the "Checkerboarders" photographed in September 2002. Photo courtesy of Michael O'Leary, Associate Publisher and Editor of "Air Classics".

Now for a quick tour of the gallery as viewed from the entrance. The first picture below shows the view north and the second scene the south view; the Friend or Foe? Museum is located within the "barracks" building on the left of the second photo.

The F4U-5N Corsair at the top of this page is a painting, "Annie Mo", by aviation and automotive artist Larry Lapadura. This painting is acrylic on stretched canvas, 15" x 30", and depicts BuNo 24453 flown by night fighter ace Guy Bordelon, VC-3, Korea June/July 1953. Cdr. Bordelon, USN (Ret.)passed away in December, 2002 at the age of 80. Framed by the artist, this fine painting is available by contacting Larry directly - see the XP-38 on the Original Art page for information.

All of the material in this website is copyrighted. All images of prints or paintings displayed herein are copyrighted and any use for any purpose, without the specific written approval of the publisher or artist, is an infringement of the copyright. CollectAir represents each of the publishers and living artists displayed; paintings and prints shown are located at our "terrestrial", "brick and mortar" gallery in Santa Barbara. Each print or painting is owned by CollectAir or is under a consignment agreement affiliation with the artist or his/her representative. Articles located at this website and which are attributed to CollectAir may be copied or reused for non-commercial purposes provided attribution to CollectAir is boldly displayed along with the article. Contact CollectAir for commercial applications. Photos of collectibles, gallery, museum etc. may be reused with permission of CollectAir. Note that material from this website is frequently used for commercial purposes, such as eBay descriptions etc., mostly without my permission or without any attribution.

First a few words about this website which I maintain. It's designed for you - no advertising banners, pop-ups, flash, java traps, and glitzy motion. Photos are low res for loading speed. The material is mostly black ink on white paper, just like virtually everything you read daily. Pages are viewed by scrolling - not necessary to hunt and peck all over the screen to view the contents although I do throw in a few links and PDF files for detail. I admit unabashedly that this site has commercial content and I invite your business, yet more space is devoted to fun stuff than commercial and more interesting articles are in the hopper. Visitors should hit their "Reload" or "Refresh" button to make sure browser, server, and any intervening mirrors and caches are not conspiring to keep new stuff from you (the dreaded red "X" in a photo box); loading problems are usually associated with an overloaded cache. Use "Refresh."

The airplane manufacturers should be ashamed! Cessna, Lockheed etc. are pulling a despicable legal shenanigan - their overly zealous legal deprtments are "protecting" their "intellectual property" by demanding that toy and model airplane manufacturers not use their full scale designs, no matter how old, to make toys and model airplanes on the thin-ice justification that they could be sued for damages if a scale model caused damage or injury. How ridiculous can people get? Well lawyers, come and get me - CollectAir has all sorts of scale models on this website and if you don't like it, sue me. Lockheed is worrying that the Cleveland P-38 kit may result in the bankruptcy of their little firm - get a life lawyers - you do nothing but bring ridicule on the legal profession, not that it isn't deserved.

Visits to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and the NASM Hazy at Dulles resulted in many photos, a few of which are posted on this website. All are on shutterfly.com now - go to Articles page for a direct link to CollectAir photos.

A B-17G Flying Fortress high over Berlin, 1944? Returning to England? No, it's the "Fuddy Duddy" flying over CollectAir on May Day, 2005. What a beautiful sight and sound! During their stopover in Santa Barbara, the B-17 flew rides for three mornings, each time flying right up State Street and over the gallery. What it must have been like to live in England during WWII with thousands of bombers and countless fighters. The "Fuddy Duddy" was recently purchased by General Lyons (Martin Aviation) and will be based at John Wayne Airport.

Now, for another subject - Art. I wrote the following discussion several years ago with the intention of running it for a month or two and then changing to another subject. The subject, however, is one that hasn't changed and one that I feel needs a continued expression of viewpoint.

George Santayana wrote in his Life of Reason IV that, "Nothing is so poor and melancholy as art that is interested in itself and not in its subject." We're inundated with aviation scenes these days in the form of prints which have taken on the sobriquet of "aviation art", usurping the definition of art from the timeless description of a skilled human involving himself with some form of media to form an emotional visual bond between himself and his audience. I know that this is a mine field with more booby traps than can be estimated, yet each of us is entitled to an opinionated definition which is highly unlikely to be shared by one's neighbor. A photo-mechanical lithographic print (same as books and magazines) is a representation of a piece of art, not a work created by a skilled artist with his own tools. The printing press made that "art" not an artist. In fact, a photograph, digital or film, of any size, is probably a closer representation of the original art piece than a lithograph which is made from a photograph. I'm trapped into use of "aviation art" to describe prints even though I strongly feel that "art" should be confined to the original work created by the effort of an artist. Lithographic prints have become the benchmark by which many of the audience judge "quality" or literal faithfulness. The perfectly flat, lifeless ink dots on fragile paper and a reduced and constricted size when compared to the original work have convinced many that that is what "art" is supposed to look like - none of that messy brush work or canvas weave. I blame the artists and the publishers for this commercialized misrepresentation, not the audience.

I respect aviation lithographic prints for what they are: a means of enjoying a wide array of aviation scenes on a budget - whether it's a coffee table book or a limited edition. The fact that few enthusiasts look beyond printed media to real art is proof that the audience has become unable to distinguish the true value of artistic creation and the human involvement. The audience will cherish (and pay for) the reality of pencil lead in an autograph created by the celebrity pilot yet not consider the artist's brush nor chalk to have the same degree of authority or cachet. Modern technology is guilty of a further debasement of the term "art" in that the line between skilled writing of software for computers and the use of that software to form images is sliding off into a blurred definition of "computer art". The computer artist is forming images based on millions of lines of code written by someone else, or many corporate others, whereas the old version of an artist finds him creating from unique code only contained in his head. To be fair, the head code is based on many varied, even infinite or cosmic sources, but it is shared by no other artist. Some terms that I've seen being used recently probably more aptly describe the different "art" forms: digital art as differentiated from traditional art.

Aviation art has gently tilted toward representationalism that has taken the artist way beyond what was once considered literal description. Recreating an airplane structure in perfect form with accurate rivet spacing, color chips to match paint, markings to perfection, and the attempt to satisfy time lines to the hour, have had the effect of celebrating photographic detail to the detriment of joy. Emotions associated with flight are stifled by excesses of excruciating minutia. There is no turning back this tidal wave of detail. But when that one superb example of an emotional aviation work comes along now and then, the audience will react and revel in the discovery of art. A stationary airplane, sitting on a ramp, is a ripe subject for minute detail by the artist-observer who is also static. But, aircraft locked in combat, with an expansive skyscape, defy close examination by the brush and paint wielder.

Just for fun, let's look at a couple of pieces of miltary aviation illustrations from the past and compare them to works of today. Neither has a surfeit of detail and both are typical of their period. The first is from World War I, an undated cover illustration for a French publication (thanks to my friend Georges Grod of Royan, France); suggestive of a B-17 waist gunner - really not much difference. The second is entitled "Torpedo Squadron 8" and was painted by James M. Sessions for the June 1944 issue of Aviation. I suggest that you can thoroughly enjoy both of these illustrations sans rivets. So you say, "What's the point of all this?" Heck, I don't know - but you have to admit that Ensign George Gay looks like he's in a hell of a lot of trouble out there so the artist has accomplished his intent. You and I have seen artwork depicting this event by dozens of artists over the years, yet, for me, this scene, with all its technical faults, gives me a profound sense of what went on that fateful day for George Gay.

What kind of a country am I in when I have to "press 1 for English"?

As items, articles or information are added to this site, I'll try to list the latest changes here. When the list gets too long, I'll erase and restart. Done on 01/01/08.

12/19 Add B-26B 1952 ID model to Display Models page. 12/21 Edit. 12/30 China Clipper kit C51 shown on StromBecKer Part Two page. 12/31 Add unusual Cleveland Dwarf Electra kit to info on Vintage Kit page. 1/3/08 Add StromBecKer 1931K Hudson kit pics to StromBecKer history page, edit. 1/11 Add B-29 kits to Vintage Kits, edit, add solid kit of P-59 to Kit Annex Page. 1/14 Edit, add. 1/20 Add Bassett-Lowke info to Museum, add IMC model to Museum. 1/24 Add to Woodason/Heston Airport, add AWS material to Friend or Foe? Museum, Strombeck-Becker Part 2 1/27 Add Wootton art to Articles, edit pages. Add Shutterfly photo album URL, 1/30 Add 1958 catalog pages to Strombeck-Becker History Part Two, edit. 1/31 Add to Strombeck-Becker Part Two, cockpit to Articles, new painting to Original Art, DMP kit to Vintage Kit Annex, Lot of "builder" kits, mostly Peanuts, to Vintage Kit Annex 3, bottom of page. 2/3 Add 1981 Robert McCall brochure to Missiles and Space, add Cleveland info and photo to Kit Annex 5. 2/6 Add pics to Models, Helicpter Annex, edit, add to Kit Annex 5, Ephemera. 2/7 Gee Bee Model Z toy to Vintage Transportation Toys, Falcon solid model of Hudson to Kit Annex 3. 2/12 Add Hawk solid model of TBF-1 to Vintage Kits., edit pages, add Cleveland kit SF-23 analyses to Kit Annex 5. 2/13 Add kit to Vintage Model Kits and Kit Annex, edit, add Cleveland magazines to Kit Annex 5. 2/15 Comet DC-6 X1 kit to Kit Annex 3, 2/19 Add unusual SF-1G kit info to Kit Annex 5. 2/20 Add Lockheed JetStar prototypes to Model Annex 2. 2/21 Add to Kit Annex 5, edit. 2/22 Add new page, Vintage Kit Annex 6. 2/23 Add Cleveland short kits to Vintage Wood Kit Annex 6 2/25 Add to Kit Annex 5 and 6, Czech Airlines paper doll to Ephemera.2/26 StromBecKer P-80 and D-558-2 Skyrocket to Vintage Kit Annex 3, add pic to Kit Annex 5. 2/27 Add more StromBecKer "builder" kits to Kit Annex 3, edit. 2/28 Incorporate Shutterfly album info 3/3 Add Jimmie Angel material to Ephemera and Original Art, material to StromBecKer history part One and Part Two. 3/11 FROG Penguin info added to Plastic Kits, edit.3/13 Add Heston Phoenix 3-view to Woodason, Douglas DC-4E to Strombecker.3/14 Edit, add IMA wartime models to Friend or Foe? museum British section. 3/15 add StromBecKer kits to Kit Annex 3, edit 3/21 Add Berryloid ad to Kit Annex 6. 4/3 Add to Friend of Foe? museum, Strombeck-Becker history.4/4 add to Strombeck-Becker Two, edit. 4/7 StromBecKer Cutlass to Kit Annex 3, 4/9 Correct F-86 designation Display Model Annex 2. 4/15 Add Pioneer solid kits to Vintage Kit Annex 3, 4/20 edit. 4/25 Add Berkeley info to Vintage Model Airplane Kits, 4/27 edit. 5/2 add to Cessna Helicopter, edit 5/4 1:24 scale Sherman tank to Display Model Annex 3. edit, add painting to Moisant page. 5/6 Add Cleveland rail kit info to Kit Annex 5.5/10 Sikorsky LAMPS proposal brochure to Helicopter page, new book to Submarines Page. 5/16 add to Books page, add pic to Woodason, edit. 5/25 Add mystery gun to Kit Annex 2, Maircraft P-61 box art, edit. 5/26 Short S.23 to Display Model Annex, add four old photos to Woodason Aircraft Models. 5/29 Add Nemoto HU-16B Albatross to Display Model Annex 4, edit. 5/30 Santa Barbara Airshow 1999 painting to Original Art, PBY throttle quadrant to Good Stuff page. 6/1 Add to Kit Annex 6 page, Tailspin Tommy page, Cessna Helicopter page, edit. 6/2 Add StromBecKer B-17 C77 to StromBeck-Becker History Part Two, Comet P-61 3/16" to Kit Annex page. 6/6 D-Day, add Cleveland ad to Kit Annex 5, edit. 6/7 Topping F-86 Globe to Model Annex 2, pics to Strombeck-Becker Part Two, edit.

Thank you for your business!

SPECIAL SUMMER SAVING ON AN OUTSTANDING PRINT. An historical, signed print is being specially priced for a Summer Savings sale. Don't delay as only one is available. High Patrol, by Robert Taylor, and signed by the famous T.O.M. Sopworth, is only $550 and can be seen on the Art Prints page.

Visit the Art Prints page link to see the scenic William Phillips' print, "Give Us This Day." The B-17G shown here is a detail from the reverential scene, perfect for your home.

As you can tell from the F4U-5N heading this page, and the Corsair "Gate Guard", that CollectAir likes to feature the Corsair whenever possible. In looking for markings info for the model, I ran across a superb website, www.vought.com, which is run by the Vought Heritage Museum, a group of retired Vought people. The picture of the Vought VE-7 at left is described as, "The airplane that got a company off the ground," delivered to the Army in February 1918. The personal history of Chance Vought and the company that has changed ownership 18 times is covered along with many excellent drawings and photos.

A new page has been added to celebrate the history of the Woodason Aircraft Models company of Heston, England and it's founder, V.J.G. Woodason. Victor Woodason created scale display models, from the 1930s through the 50s, as used by airlines, aircraft companies, movies, recognition films and manuals, exhibitions and collectors. His 1943 book, Scale Model Aircraft, has become a cherished reference for wood model builders. The Woodason Aircraft Models History is a tribute to this master modeler.

Hal Forrest's Tailspin Tommy comic strip is explored on the Tailspin Tommy page link. The first aviation daily comic strip, this aerial adventure series made its entrance in 1928. Some interesting sidelights to the strip are presented. Frames from a Tailspin Tommy movie, Tailspin Tommy Danger Flight, are shown, featuring model airplanes. Panels from the early 1930s through 1940 strips are shown and original strips from 1939 are offered. Not many visitors opt to go this page but I find the old comic strip history as being entertaining and just plain fun. Try it!

CollectAir is selling a limited selection of the fine, hand-crafted, limited-edition, painted pewter models from Diverse Images Historic Aviation Collection. These exquisite models are made in England. Check out our Page Link, DIVERSE IMAGES English Pewter Models (see Page Links at left). Don't miss out on the B-17G Diorama which is now in our stock - a limited edition of only 100 (preview below). These are the only Diverse-Images examples on commercial display in the U.S. that I know of. These models make wonderful and unique gifts that can't be found elsewhere and are an excellent trophy or award. Also new, a three P-51 D-Day diorama in a signed edition of only 60 is now in stock - check it out on the Diverse Images page. Models limited to stock on hand.

Charles A. Lindbergh collectors are asked to take a look at a Wright Aeronautical Corporation item from 1927 at the bottom of the "Good Stuff" page link.

Douglas DC-2, NC13711 - N1934D, was flown from Van Nuys to the Museum of Flight in Seattle recently and is on display at the museum. Many photos of this venerable airplane, along with its history, are available by clicking here.

A special page has been added for helicopter buffs. The obscure Cessna CH-1 Skyhook record setting helicopter, designed over 50 years ago, is chronicled from a personal involvement aspect. More information is available on this page than any book or internet site has ever provided. Photos are included which have never been published. Check out the Cessna Helicopter page.

Helicopter and VTOL manufacturer display models are now presented on a separate page(s), Helicopter/VTOL Display Models - Vintage. In addition, some helicopter miscellany such as brochures, pins, manuals - anything helicopter - are also offered on the page. Some items, as they're sold, are not deleted because of historical or collector interest.

To digress for a moment to a non-aviation subject. A maverick American artist, Harry Jackson of Wyoming, born in 1924 and a decorated Marine in WWII, has experimented with art forms ranging from abstract expressionism to cowboy realism, in painting and sculpture, and can switch from one to the other with equal adroitness. The University of Wyoming said of Jackson in 1988, "This outlaw of the art world, rejecting dead rules, and living by the timeless ones, steadily emerges as one of this century's most powerful artists." I mention Jackson, whom I admire greatly and treasure the few conversations I've had with him, because Santa Barbara has one of his monumental, outdoor sculptures on exhibit at the Washinton Mutual Bank, just two blocks from the CollectAir gallery.

Jackson created the sculpture, Sacagewea, in 1980 on commission from Great Western Savings which later merged with Washington Mutual. Sacajewea was a Lemhi-Shoshone Indian guide on part of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition; she was married to the expedition's interpretor. Around the same time, Jackson also created a 21-foot bronze of John Wayne, The Horseman, for Great Western; this monumental work is located in Beverly Hills at Wilshire and La Cienega boulevards.

The city of Santa Barbara, with its liberal political peculiarities and college setting (and I'm sure you've encountered the mind-set of those folks when it comes to "art"), has not seen fit to promote Sacagewea as one of the more artistic creations in the area (for other great sculpture, visit La Arcada nearby). Therefore, I invite you to view this statue of a courageous lady whose trek with Lewis and Clark has been peppered with fictitious myth and legends, but yet when her life is simmered down to plain truth, she is truly a majestic figure in American history. The next time you're in Santa Barbara, visit this heroic lady at the corner of State St. and Victoria.

Isn't that a wonderful patriotic cover on the September 1940 issue of Flying Aces? The painting of the Curtiss XP-40 was done by August Schonburg; the airplane pictured, although done in mid-1940, is the very first XP-40, sporting the radiator under the rear fuselage, which first flew in October 1938.

The radiator was relocated to the nose very early in the test program but pictures in magazines persisted showing the XP-40 as pictured during its first flights. Even the German Luftwaffe Wiking recognition model of the P-40 in 1:200 scale is configured with the radiator in the aft fuselage position! Flying Aces and Model Airplane News, with its Jo Kotula covers, both frequently used odd but bright airplane color schemes to emphasize the magazine on the newstands of the era. CollectAir has many vintage model airplane kits and magazines for sale from the 1930s and 1940s; also see the "Articles" page for a briefing on old, solid model kits.

A new webpage, StromBecKer History, has been added to cover the history of the Strombeck-Becker Manufacturing Co., maker of the popular StromBecKer solid, pre-carved pinewood models of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. The story of J.F. Strombeck, R.D. Becker and their Moline, Illinois woodworking factory is a study in American family corporations and the influence of European immigrants in American commerce in the 19th and 20th centuries. Use StromBecKer link in left column or click here.

The Howard Hughes epic, The Aviator, has received a lot of press, but nothing in that movie equals the magnificent job that the late Jim Wright did on his Hughes Racer reproduction that he completed and flew in 2002 following 35,000 man-hours of building effort by Jim and his team of expert craftsmen including Steve Wolf who built the Gee Bee for Delmar Benjamin. All the aviation world has mourned the loss of Jim and his Racer, but this re-creation of the most beautiful of all airplanes will live on in photos, memories and, of course, the non-flying, static display of Howard's original H-1 in the NASM ("H-1" is NASM's description. However, John Underwood points out that technically, Howard Hughes' logbook reflects the designation of "Hughes Special 1B" for the long-wing, transcontinental Racer). Yet, the sight and sound of that polished aluminum speedster will be greatly missed by aviation buffs now, and by future enthusiasts who will be deprived of it's graceful aerial beauty. As a tribute to Jim Wright and his Racer, a photo selection is presented on the Articles page.

Visit the Aviation Books link for a selection of aeronautical titles, from vintage to new. The book at left, Dave Dashaway The Young Aviator, is typical of the adventure stories aimed at youth in the pre-WWI era. This novel of aerial exploits of young Dave was printed in 1913 (the fifth of the series) and was penned by "Roy Rockwood" which is a pseudonym of Edward Statemeyer who wrote the famous Hardy Boys series. "Rockwood" also wrote the Speedwell Boys series featuring submarines, motorcycles, racing autos etc. The action novels of the period covered mysteries, sports, boating, jungle boy, ranching, even West Point and Boy Scouts - these series are ripe for collecting and can be found in book sales and used bookdealers at reasonable prices. The youth novels of the 1920s and 1930s became more military oriented with WWI aviation stories and flying adventure tales involving "modern" aircraft and villains.

This new book by H.L. "Herm" Schreiner, Aviation's Great Recruiter - Cleveland's Ed Packard, is a great read for any model kit collector, scale model hobbyist, follower of modeling history or the industry, or just interested in the development of family businesses in years past. A full 322-pages of sheer pleasure for the modeling buff. More info on this new Cleveland book is available on the Vintage Model Airplane Kits page and on the Books page. Now available. I have received nothing but rave reviews from purchasers of this book. A book for every modeler's shelf. You will find Cleveland kits for sale on most of the Vintage Kits pages; many more kits will be added in the near future.

CollectAir photos taken at the NASM Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport may be accessed on the Articles page link. Over 300 photos taken of the artifacts, arranged in an album. This photo of the Turner RT-14 Meteor racer is an example.

After you've browsed this CollectAir site or it's new additions, try www.gava.org.uk for some more great original aviation artwork which can take you several hours to peruse. The British Guild of Aviation Artists has hundreds of paintings from their Exhibitions on their website - a heck of a lot to look at - over a thousand! Available on CD. Send me your vote for "Best of Show." Speaking of British, check out Michael Rondot's website whose name we share - his address is www.collectair.co.uk. His art is outstanding. I have a secondary market Hawker Hunter print of his signed by a bunch of Hunter test pilots; yours for only $100.00. The American Society of Aviation Artists (ASAA) displays a number of outstanding aviation paintings on their website, www.asaa-avart.org. All of the award winning paintings from the 2007 ASAA Forum at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport are currently on exhibit along with previous exhibits. This outstanding exhibition ran in the BWI terminal until September 7, 2007; you can view this exhibition by clicking here for artwork. Some ASAA folks, Andy Whyte and Charlie and Ann Cooper have put out a new book, "How to Draw Aircraft Like a Pro." An excellent work that everyone can learn from; even if you do no artwork at all, this book will alert you to good practices which you will be able to spot in your review of new prints and illustrations. Amaze your friends as you sit down at the piano and play; buy this book for only $19.95, available at Motorbooks.

Reproduction instrument panels, complete with mostly original German instruments, are offered for sale on the "Good Stuff" page link. The Fw 190A-8 and Me 110C panels are shown in detail (the Fw 190A-8 at left). Check these out.

Vintage model airplane kits, engines and accessories are featured for sale on the Vintage Model Airplane Kits page and it's new Annex, Annex 2, Annex 3, Annex 4 and Annex 5, along with the Vintage Model Engines page. Flying model and solid kits from 40 to 75 years old are shown including contents and description. The 1945 Topping "100" all-aluminum Control-Line model, shown at left, appears on the Vintage Kit Annex Page. A nostalgia trip for anyone interested in vintage modeling and wood kits. Also, visit the Vintage Model Engines page for some of the classics of the ignition model engines such as this Brown Junior Motors "D", the McCoy race engines, Ohlsson Custom 60, and others of the 1930s and 40s. A Plastic Kits page, featuring the rarer 1950s and 60s kits, is a new feature. Begin your tour of vintage model airplane kits here.

Vintage display models of many kinds are available from CollectAir. These manufacturer's models were, for the most part, not sold to the public but were used by companies for promotional purposes - today, these models are museum pieces, displayed in aviation museums throughout the country. You can own a museum piece - just use the page links in the left column or click on any of the following for a selection of models: Missiles and Spacecraft, or Display Models, or Display Model Annex, or Display Model Annex 2, or Display Model Annex 3, or Helicopter Models.

Ah, aviation advertising was different then! This young lady was featured in a 1943 full page ad in a popular aeronautical magazine. To check out the identity of the unlikely corporation that sponsored this ad, and see a larger photo of this WW2 era lass, you'll have to go to the "Good Stuff" page.

I highly recommend Hannan's Runway, POB 210, Magalia, CA 95954, as an excellent source for model aviation and aircraft history books, some published and edited by Bill Hannan. Access Bill by www.hrunway.com.

Every vintage aviation enthusiast should subscribe to Skyways, the journal of the airplane 1920-1940. With in-depth articles, this journal goes where your usual newsstand magazine can't reach; Skyways has exacting studies of the great airplanes of the "Golden Age", plus many other features including a terrific section on model airplanes. Subscribe by sending $42 to World War I Aeroplanes, Inc., 15 Crescent Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.

Quick! Test your recognition skill. What airplanes are those flying overhead? Check the Friend or Foe? museum link and you'll not only find out but you'll also learn who made those models and what scale they are. Click here.

All students of American aviation history should be members of the American Aviation Historical Society; to join, send your $39 to AAHS, 2333 Otis St., Santa Ana, CA 92704-4818.

Doug Emmons creates magnificent wood "sculptures" of airplane subjects, each a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. A Doug Emmons WWII Typhoon, created in the "bread and butter" technique based on an old kit, is shown on the "Articles" page. Doug has a delightful website DOXAERIE which showcases his incredible models and philosophy.

Artist Michael Boss, some of whose work is displayed in the Original Art page, has an Amelia Earhart scene featured on page 44 of The Artist's Magazine for February 2004 along with a discussion of his use of casein. This painting, Earhart and the Little Red Bus: Breaking Out of Bad Weather on Her Solo Transatlantic Flight, was in the juried ASAA show held in Wichita, Kansas.

I assume that most visitors to this website are some sort of aviation collectors, yet only 15% (improving) of visitors browse the "Collectibles Info" page. Interesting? Nothing there for sale, just my blather about collecting stuff. Before you venture further into this website, I highly recommend that you pay a visit to the COLLECTIBLES INFO page.

Did you know that the USS Enterprise was the only U.S. Navy operational aircraft carrier in the South Pacific on November 12, 1942? Read about Admiral Martin Doan "Red" Carmody's SBD adventures in the World War II Stories Page Link at left.

The photo below purportedly represents the Lockheed XP-38 in flight; this picture taken from a Lockheed advertisement. Do you think it's real? Checkout the XP-38 story on the Original Art page for the answer.

The cover photo, shown below, from the July/August 1964 issue of American Modeler magazine shows four of the world's greatest pleasures - what else does a man need?!

Come visit me at my very personal page link at left. I fly high and tell some very cool stories. What's my age? I'd love to take you flying with me but if you'll read my story you'll learn why I probably won't. I'd enjoy spending some time with you, so let's get together - just click my link. I promise that I won't try to sell you anything - but I do hope that my enthusiasm for early aviation history is contagious, particularly after we celebrated the 100th anniversary of heavier-than-air flight! Come visit with me at the busiest aviation center on the continent.

Advertisement from the October 1932 issue of "Aviation", "The Oldest American Aeronautical Magazine," which today is still around as "Aviation Week." Note that Stearman, in August 1929, was purchased by United Aircraft and Transport Corp. which at that time also included Boeing Airplane Company, Chance Vought Corporation, Hamilton Aero and Hamilton Metalplane, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and the Pacific Air Transport Company and, not long after that, they bought National Air Transport, Varney Air Lines, and some others which eventually became United Air Lines. United Aircraft also had an investment in Jack Northrop's company. At the time of the October 1932 ad above, deep into the depression, Stearman was experiencing difficult times and came close to shutting its doors. The United conglomerate was broken up in 1934 by the feds and Boeing became the owner of Stearman in September 1934 but the company continued in Wichita under the name of Stearman until 1941. The popular WWII PT-17 Kaydet trainer is well known; 8,584 were built in Wichita.

The geneology of the Wichita aircraft companies is complicated; Lloyd Stearman originally worked as chief engineer for Swallow which was formed from the E.M. Laird Airplane Co. Stearman then quickly formed Travel Air Manufacturing Company with fellow Swallow employee, Walter Beech, in 1924 with Clyde Cessna as V.P. Lloyd Stearman departed Travel Air in 1926 to form his own company in Venice, California but then returned in 1927 to form another, the Stearman Aircraft Co., Inc. He left the company shortly after its takeover by United in 1929 so, in 1932, there was no Lloyd Stearman in the Stearman Aircraft Company. The Kaydet was designed in 1934. Lloyd Stearman became president of Lockheed in the mid-1930s and then became associated with the Stearman-Hammond safety airplane project in San Francisco until it folded in 1938.

Portions of a General Mills ad from May 1946 are shown below; the Kix cereal airplane premiums were 1:432 scale models made from the wartime Cruver recognition model molds - see Friend or Foe? Museum page or Display Model page for more information. Presented here just for fun.

And, while we're on the subject of breakfast cereal, the box back from Quaker Puffed Wheat Sparkies, "Shot From Guns," is presented below. From around 1939/40, The "Home Defense Series," with Captain Sparks, Commander, of airplane pictures is typical of cereal box pictures of that era. This scene of a PBY-5 was enough to excite any young lad and it says to "save them all," which translates to "eat more Sparkies." This terrific old box is significant to me as the bottom flap says, "Mills: Akron, Ohio - Cedar Rapids, Iowa - St. Joseph, Missouri." St. Joseph was my home town and, as a grade school student, we were taken to the local Quaker Oats plant to watch these Sparkies being shot from guns - I can still smell that delicious aroma of toasting wheat.

The Library of Congress has some outstanding color photos from WWII. The following scenes taken in 1942 show the indefatigable spirit of the American homefront as women became major players in the construction of the arsenal of democracy.

A delightful scene of a YB-17 at Langley in 1942. This remarkable color photograph (transparency)is from the Library of Congress "American Memory" series WW2 section available on their website.

Korean vintage F4U-5 from Sterling Models 1964 ad for a rubber-powered, balsa kit A-14. What a superb graphic!