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Navtech expands online Gallery Of Aviation Art

Sept. 22, 2011, Toronto – Navtech has opened the third gallery of its Aviation Poster Collection showcasing 1930s artwork and illuminating the substantial progress in the aviation industry through this decade. Visitors to the Navtech Aviation Poster Collection web site (posters.navtech.aero) can study the 50 unique works, all depicting aviation milestones in spite of the world- wide economic and political struggles of the time. Navtech welcomes aviation enthusiasts and art lovers everywhere to enjoy the diverse collection.

“The world remembers the ‘30s as a decade of depression and financial hard times,” said Navtech CEO Mike Hulley, “but during this decade great strides were made in aviation. Solo distance flying records, commercial passenger carriers, and the introduction of the DC-3 immediately come to mind for me. There were many pioneers and records set and broken in this decade and we are pleased to share more of our art collection to highlights these accomplishments.”

The 1930s saw the birth of new technology – including the first turbojet – as well as, inspiring aviators who made a name for themselves by their passion for flight. The Navtech Collection exemplifies this passion and commitment through dramatic and memorable graphics of the day.

Consider London – Cape Town and England – Brasil in record time, posters advertising a husband and wife team’s individual accomplishments. Artwork for the posters is by Audrey and M. Pecnar, respectively. The gallery description for England – Brasil in record time brings to light some of their many adventures:

The first solo flight across the South Atlantic, made by Jim Mollison in 1933, is featured on this poster for Castrol Motor Oil. On February 6, Captain J.A. Mollison, one of Britain’s great aviators, said “Cheerio” to his wife, the record breaking pilot Amy Johnson Mollison, at Lympne airport in England. He then started up his airplane and flew alone in the “Heart’s Content” across Europe and Africa. Turning westward in Senegal to make a 1,800 mile hop across the Atlantic, Capt. Mollison finally stopped in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The entire journey lasted 5 days, including 7 stops for rest, repairs, and refueling. Mollison was famous before this flight for making the first solo flight from Europe to the United States in 1932, and a record from Britain to South Africa, which his wife promptly challenged and won for herself.

Of note is the Castrol Motor Oil sponsorship for both Capt. Mollison and Capt. Johnson’s adventures. Advertising of flying as a hobby or a career became more common, especially at Air Shows and in magazines with the hopes of attracting trainee pilots.

The entire collection encompasses five galleries organized by time periods, beginning with the late 1800s and ending in the 1940s. Currently open are Galleries I-III, which take viewers on an historic tour of the very beginnings of flight – ballooning – through the development of the first turbojet powered aircraft in Gallery III. Together the galleries include more than 150 works dating from 1893 and include advertisements, movie posters, and magazine covers, providing a diverse and unique prologue to aviation history.

Navtech welcomes not only members of the aviation industry they serve, but anyone with a passion for flight and travel to visit posters.navtech.aero and tour the Navtech Aviation Poster Collection. Navtech will open Gallery IV with 1940s artwork in 2012.

For more information visit: www.navtech.aero