There is something hypnotic and, to a certain extent, addictive about photos of airplanes. And when the photos are of the highest quality and of history-making airplanes, we can look at them again and again, never tiring of them. Why is that? Part of the answer may be in the form most airplanes take: who can deny that the wind-cheating shape of a Mustang or a Spitfire is art, no matter how art is defined. The sensuous curves of a Staggerwing's cowling and windshield, the purposeful lines of an FW-190 rival anything Michelangelo ever sculpted. For that reason, when an airplane's curves are captured in the right light, at the right angle by the right photographer, the resulting portraits are timeless and will be as aesthetically pleasing to generations in the future as they are today. Another part of the addictive nature of viewing high-quality photographs is that the viewer recognizes that each airplane has its own character, both visually and physically and no two airplanes fly alike: the image quite often says that in line and symmetry. And so the image draws the viewer into the cockpit, letting a portion of his imagination become that pilot for a few moments.
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