The Occasion: The fifth annual conference for the International Society for Aviation Photography.
The Setting: A chain restaurant outside Washington, DC. Mike Machat, noted aviation artist, magazine editor, and conference speaker, was seated at our table. To pass the time, someone handed Machat a napkin and a pen and asked him to draw an airplane.
"What would you like?" he asked.
"How about a B-36?" came the reply.
A minute later, Machat handed back the "Six Turning and Four Burning" sketch, a reference to the combination of piston and jet engines on the big bomber. More napkin art requests followed. By the time dinner landed, everyone at the table had his own drawing. Even the experimental three-engine Martin XB-51—as the "Gilbert XF-120" in the movie Toward the Unknown—was committed to napkin art. Machat could not be stumped.
We'll credit the framed B-36 napkin, which hangs prominently in the Code One office, as the inspiration for this special aviation art issue of the magazine. Aviation inspires art. This particular brand of art emphasizes the dynamic environment of flight. It shows the intricate details of aircraft construction that is an art by itself. It depicts historical moments impossible to capture on film or on a sensor chip. It can shape the future. Many aircraft actually got their start as basic drawings on napkins—usually cocktail napkins.
Our previous issue dedicated to aviation art, Volume 10 Number 4 in 1995, featured F-16 art exclusively. That "Art of the F-16" edition was hugely popular. We decided to revisit and expand the topic, this time opening it to current and legacy Lockheed Martin aircraft. The result is a collectible tribute to the proud past, the prodigious present, and the fantastical future of aerospace platforms created by Lockheed Martin.
The American Society of Aviation Artists deserves special thanks for our resulting collection. The organization's founder and longtime fan of Code One, Keith Ferris, put out a call for works related to Lockheed Martin and the company's legacy. The response accounts for a majority of the contents of this special issue.
Enjoy,
Editor,
Code One |
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