Jet Age Art Store
Love airport posters and classic airline & airplane posters? Check out our high quality Art Print Posters celebrating the Golden Age of Air Travel, illustrated by Jet Age artist Chris Bidlack… To search the Store, click here.
(Also visit our Great Lakes Posters website to see Chris Bidlack’s original Michigan and Great Lakes themed art posters.)
Detroit City Airport Poster
Detroit City Airport Poster
Poster size is 14" wide by 20" tall, including a one-inch white border, and is printed on heavyweight, acid-free poster stock.
Detroit's forgotten Airport on the city's east side sits quietly and little-used today, but still appears in places much as it did in the late 1930s. Although awaiting an uncertain future, City Airport was once an exciting pre-World War II focal point for air travel to and from the Motor City, with stars like Jack Benny and Tyrone Power, businessmen like Howard Hughes, and noted personalities like J. Edgar Hoover, Wrong Way Corrigan and even Elenor Roosevelt passing through its lobby doors.
The poster, illustrated by artist Chris Bidlack, portrays the north façade of the 1930 Main Hangar, the design of which was which was initially undertaken by the famed Detroit architect Louis Kamper. (Kamper was removed from the project before much progress was made, and the final design and construction was overseen by Detroit's city engineer Perry A. Fellows.) On the roof of the building sits the old control tower, complete with openable windows, modern radios, and (probably a very warm) glass ceiling.
In the illustration, as a Pennsylvania Central Airlines Boeing 247D approaches overhead, an American Airlines DC-3 begins its taxi to the departure runway. Behind, passengers arriving for the next flight, perhaps to board the DC-3 approaching in the distance from the south, walk toward the Waiting Room.
Although significantly deteriorated in parts today, the airport's main hangar still stands, and although the pigeons now occupy what's left of the old control tower, the building's original Art Deco elegance is still somewhat in evidence. If you're a fan of Detroit aviation history, or know someone who is, this unique print is for you.
The print will arrive carefully packaged and ready for you to unroll and frame. (Framing instructions included.) Click on the image to see the full poster in detail. (And of course, the "JetAgeArt.com" watermark does not appear on the actual poster.)