3-View Aircraft Posters
   Many customers have asked for us to publish posters on individual aircraft. A single image runs contrary to our "content-intensive" comprehensive overview standard, so we decided to show three views of each aircraft - top, side and bottom. Each poster also contains a short history of the airplane and a chart citing specifications and performance characteristics. For this first series, we have selected four of the most popular and famous planes.
   The B-52 Stratofortress presented a special problem as it has been in service for over 50 years, and there have been numerous models and variations. What should be shown? We resolved the question by featuring the famous B-52G, the backbone of our nation’s nuclear deterrent during the height of the Cold War, which is why the plane was built. We added an illustration showing the nose of the B-52H now in service, as it has raised areas that house newly-added electronic gear. This is the only apparent physical change in the two models. The livery has drastically changed. The Cold War B-52s were not painted, as the bright, shiny aluminum and the white belly helped to reflect the heat resulting from nuclear blasts. Although in service for over a half century, the Stratofortress never dropped a nuclear bomb. Since the end of the Cold War in 1990, they have only carried conventional bombs. This resulted in them being painted an inconspicuous gray, so the nose shows the color change too.
   Our posters are normally a whooping big 24" x 36" size, but that is simply too big for a single airplane. It just wouldn’t look right. This resulted in these 3-view posters being created half size, 18" x 24." This is the basic size used for most commercial art print. This smaller size also permits several of these posters to be hung together as a set and we anticipate that many customers will buy two or more for just that purpose.