Airliner Models

Marketing Air Travel and Tracing Airliner Evolution Through Vintage Miniatures

Anthony J Lawler

• Publisher: Crowood
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781785006333
• eBook ISBN: 9781785006340
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Aviation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

For most of the past century, beautiful models of airliners have been made to promote their airlines' services in travel agents and their own shops. The models also illustrate the evolution of airliner design over these decades: the wood and fabric biplanes of the 1920s, the broad adoption of all-metal airliners in the 1930s, the first jet airliners of the 1950s, the first wide-body airliners of the 1970s and the pioneering small steps in supersonic air travel are all covered. The increasingly colourful exterior schemes adopted by the airlines, to ensure recognition by aspiring passengers, provide an interesting subtext. For model collectors, the airliner type, makers name, scale, approximate age and the materials used are detailed for each model illustrated. A short history of significant model-making companies is covered. With the onset of online bookings and the closure of airline offices and travel agents, the use of models is fast vanishing forever. The focus of this book is to preserve this fascinating era when models were a significant marketing tool, and to ensure that these models, at least in photographic form, survive as a record for future generations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication and Acknowledgements
• About the Models Featured in the Book
• Biography and Introduction
• Chapter 1 1919 to 1929: The First Tentative Steps in Airline Operations
• Chapter 2 1930 to 1939: Airliner Evolution Accelerates
• Chapter 3 1940 to 1949: The War Years and the Aftermath
• Chapter 4 1950 to 1959: The Great Leap Forward. The Jet Age Arrives
• Chapter 5 1960 to 1969: The Turbine-powered Airliner Becomes Ubiquitous
• Chapter 6 1970 to 1979: The Wide-Body Twin-Aisle Era Arrives and Changes Air Travel Forever. Supersonic Airliners' First Steps.
• Chapter 7 The 1980s and Beyond: Air Travel Is Now Often “Buses with Wings”
• Chapter 8 The Model Makers: Mainland Europe and the Rest of the World
• Chapter 9 The Model Makers: United Kingdom
• Chapter 10 The Model Makers: The United States and USSR Addendum
• Chapter 11 Model Bases: Ashtray-mounted Models and VIP Gifts
• Chapter 12 Marketing Airliners to Airlines
• Index