To purchase this print, please to order the item from HobbyLink Japan, our distribution partner.
The beautiful coral atolls portrayed below this Boeing Model 314 are almost enough to inspire one to start planning their next vacation, and to long for the era when you could travel on a plane such as this! The 314, first carrying passengers in 1939, was the largest passenger plane in the world until the debut of the Boeing 747 some 30 years later. But due to the intrusion of World War II, most of the Boeing 314's flights were as the C-98, flying VIPs and cargo for the war effort. Only 12 of these aircraft were ever built, with PanAm using nine of them as ultra-luxury transports on flights from the US mainland to destinations in Asia. Both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill enjoyed flights on the type. But after just nine years of service, the 314 lost its long-range route throne to types such as the DC-4 and Lockheed Constellation; during the war many larger airfields that could handle the big planes had been constructed, and the need for a sea-based airliner fell to near zero.
Koike's painting is of "California Clipper" on February 23, 1939 as she makes the first Pacific passenger flight of the type.
This print is reproduced on heavy art board and sized identically to the original, measuring 400mm x 315mm (15.75 x 12.4 inches). It's offset-printed, and the color reproduction has been approved by Koike himself. The art board measures 625mm x 453mm (24.6 x 17.8 inches), leaving white borders around the image to give you the freedom to have it framed as you please. The prints are packed in a special sleeve inside a sturdy shipping box designed to prevent any bending while on their way to you (for this reason, they cannot be combined with other types of items for shipping, they will be shipped separately, even if ordered with other items).