Donation of 11 model airplanes representing nearly 50 years of aircraft development

In the fall of 2020, the San Francisco Aeronautical Society aquired and gifted to the SFO Museum, eleven model airplanes that represent nearly fifty years of aircraft development between the mid-1920s and early-1970s. The making of scale aircraft models was an important part of the design, manufacturing, and marketing process for both airlines and aircraft manufacturers. Crafted by in-house model shops or independent model makers, they represented designs scaled down for convenient analysis. Carriers also utilized models as advertising display pieces to promote their services, enabling would-be passengers to visualize their mode of transportation – of particular importance in an era before flying was common or the internet was available. The donated models depict a variety of aircraft, from an early KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) Fokker F.VII trimotor, to an American Airlines Douglas DST, to a Pan American World Airways Lockheed L-049 Constellation prop liner, and a Lockheed L-500 (C-5) represented as a concept airplane for United Air Lines.