Oceans by Air: Scale Models and Photographs by Jim Lund

Oceans by Air: Scale Models and Photographs by Jim Lund

By the early 1920s, railroads, internal-combustion vehicles, and newly developed commercial airlines had all begun to greatly reduce continental travel times for mail, freight, and passengers. Yet, the only way to traverse the vast expanses of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans at the time was by ship, which could take weeks or even months. In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh successfully flew nonstop from New York to Paris in thirty-three hours, and many began to think that transoceanic air travel could be a possibility. Shortly afterward, the giant German airship Graf Zeppelin and the Dornier Do X flying boat successfully flew passengers across the Atlantic, and by 1935, Pan American Airways had crossed the immense Pacific. After World War II, commercial aviation steadily advanced with larger, faster, and more economical aircraft. Presently, thousands of passengers fly across oceans to destinations throughout the world every day. On display are models and photographs from the collection of Jim Lund that represent many of the aircraft that were instrumental in this profound achievement.

Jim Lund has a passionate interest in aviation. Since his childhood he has avidly constructed plastic scale-aircraft models. Currently retired, he has dedicated much of his time to crafting models and photographing them in vignettes that accurately represent the aircraft in relative scale and historical context. These often include equipment, passengers, support personnel, and flight crews placed in front of a backdrop or on a simulated water base. With a keen eye for detail, Lund researched and studied historical photographs to assure that his aircraft models were accurately represented. Numerous aircraft have been constructed from model kits produced by manufacturers the world over. In cases where a kit was not available, Lund crafted the model's parts from scratch in collaboration with experts using the "vacuform" process. Originating in the 1930s with model aircraft manufacturers including Skybirds and Frog Penguin, the 1:72 scale appeals to Lund, and the greater aircraft modeling community, because of the ease with which nearly all aircraft types, from the extremely large to very small, can be constructed and displayed. In this scale, one inch is equal to six feet. Lund's entire model collection consists of nearly 1,600 models in 1:72 scale representing almost every historically significant aircraft flown, from the 1903 Wright Flyer to present types.

Photography is not permitted.
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