David Gale started this work of art as a tribute to the old models that were created for display in the 50's.  He made the tooling for the core as well as wood and plastic patterns for the airplanes' steel structures.  The end result is a unique hand made aircraft with a lamp (with dimmer) designed so when lit, the glow lights up the aircraft, giving the illusion of an aircraft flying at night with its cabin lights on.

 

The Super Constellation is possibly one of the most beautifully balanced aircraft ever designed.  The dolphin like overall shape and tail design have distinguished this aircraft from the rest.

 

John Travolta is among the aviation connoisseurs and art collectors, one of the proud owners of an original David Gale lamp.

 

 

The Artist:  "I have always liked the exterior shapes of classic aircraft from the 30's through the 50's.  Especially the early jets like the P-80, F-86, Meteor, and MIG-15, and all commercial transports of the 40's and 50's.

 

In my artwork, I use many of the techniques, riveting, sheet metal etc used in aircraft and automobiles.  Aircraft structure is almost always very strong yet as lightweight as possible, a type of idealized construction.  I try to keep the aesthetics of aircraft alive but add new materials and function to go beyond the creation of a straight sculpture."

 

 

 

David Gale, a native of the Los Angeles area in California, has been an artist as long as he can remember.  With a passion for airplanes and race cars, he creates work of art with a function.  David is mostly impressed with the way that aircraft look despite the fact that their designers concentrated on function and not on aesthetics per se.  Aircraft are engineered and designed with factors in mind other than aesthetics such as speed, airflow, weight, etc.  The fact that aircraft are beautiful is unintentional.  But it is this spontaneous beauty that moves David Gale to create a new function for parts that have lost their function.