FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2004

Spirit Of St. Louis Takes Flight With DIBOND®, SINTRA® Graphic Display Boards

ST. LOUIS -- On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh became the first aviator in history to complete a nonstop solo transatlantic flight. He flew the Spirit of St. Louis, a Ryan NYP single-engine airplane 3,610 miles (5,810 kilometers), taking off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, N.Y., crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and landing at Le Bourget Field near Paris 33 hours, 30 minutes later, where he was met by a crowd of more than 100,000. It was a legendary feat that earned Lindbergh a $25,000 prize but, more importantly, started a boom in aviation.

“Not until the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 was the entire world again as enthusiastic about an aviation event as it was when Lindbergh landed his little Ryan monoplane in Paris.” That’s how the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., which displays the Spirit of St. Louis in its “Milestones of Flight” gallery, describes Lindbergh’s accomplishment on its web site (www.nasm.si.edu).

Lindbergh’s victory tour of the U.S. in the Spirit of St. Louis (July-October 1927), followed by a goodwill flight to Central America and South America, helped to establish the airplane as a safe and reliable means of transportation, according to the National Air and Space Museum. The Spirit of St. Louis made its final flight ­ from St. Louis to Washington, D.C. ­ on April 30, 1928, where Lindbergh presented the aircraft to the Smithsonian Institution.

It is only fitting that Lindbergh’s legendary transatlantic solo flight and airplane should be commemorated in the new marketing communications program introduced by Alcan Composites USA and entitled, “It’s What Legends Are Made Of ­ Create Your Own.” This program features a series of print advertisements, product literature, sample kits and a trade show booth in which legendary graphic arts icons ­ such as the Spirit of St. Louis ­ are recreated with one of Alcan Composites’ leading graphic display boards, including the Sintra®, Dibond®, Gator™ and Fome-Cor® board lines.

The Spirit of St. Louis aircraft was selected as one of the most recognizable metal-based graphic arts icons that could be recreated utilizing the unique features of Dibond. This easy-to-fabricate lightweight-yet-rigid durable aluminum composite material consists of two strong sheets of pre-painted .012-inch aluminum bonded to a solid polyethylene core. Sheets are available in platinum white, platinum white/black, silver metallic/bronze metallic, red/yellow and blue/white colors. A polyester clear coat is applied over Dibond’s brushed aluminum finish to create Dibond Brushed Silver.

“Reproducing the Spirit of St. Louis airplane ­ with its metal look ­ offered us the perfect opportunity to showcase the wide range of fabrication techniques that can be utilized with Dibond,” said David Meacham, marketing manager, Alcan Composites USA. “Dibond is a fairly new product about which we’re still educating the graphic arts industry. A lot of designers just now are discovering Dibond.”

Dibond can be used in large-format digital and electrostatic printing and photo mounting applications, as well as screen printing. This product offers significant cost savings, fabrication ease and rigidity for interior signage, exhibits and displays.

The “Legends” campaign was developed for Alcan Composites by McLane & Company, a full-service marketing communications firm based in St. Louis. Scott Gericke, partner, designlab,inc in St. Louis, which worked under the direction of McLane & Company, created campaign graphics. Gericke provided photos of the Spirit of St. Louis to Engraphix Architectural Signage, Inc., in St. Louis, for fabrication of a portion of the plane’s front end, including its fuselage, nose, landing gear and wings.

“Our goal was to come up with as many fabrication techniques as possible to incorporate into this display,” said Ed Brimer, president of Engraphix. “We’ve used Dibond for signage and displays and are quite familiar with its features. It’s a good material that’s easy to fabricate and produces a consistently high-quality finish.”

The first challenge faced by Engraphix was to get a clear view of the airplane’s side to create computerized vector art. “We modified scans of a low-resolution photo to create parts of the plane,” said Brimer.

He also used artwork created by his children as students in the Lindbergh School District in St. Louis, which celebrated the St. Louis-supported hero’s achievements a few years back. He used their art to scan the script lettering on the side of the plane. (The Spirit of St. Louis airplane and flight were funded by several St. Louis investors and, thus, the name. The custom aircraft built by Ryan Airlines Co. in San Diego ­ the Ryan NYP ­ includes the acronym for New York-to-Paris flight.) Gericke provided artwork of the flags painted on the plane’s nose following Lindbergh’s visit to these countries during his tour of Central America and South America.

Rather than attempting to recreate the Spirit of St. Louis three-dimensionally, Engraphix fabricated the display in multiple layers of flat planes to create a sense of depth, according to Brimer, who said all pieces were computer routed with a Gerber Sabre Saw.

The plane’s fuselage and nose were routed from 3 mm Dibond Brushed Silver. The product’s brushed aluminum finish was enhanced to more closely resemble the real plane’s “engine turn” finish, according to Brimer. “We put abrasive disks in a drill press and finished the pieces by hand,” he said. “It took a very gentle touch to create the spin marks but let the brushed aluminum finish shine through.”

The words Spirit of St. Louis were screen printed onto the nose. The country flags were digitally direct printed onto clear adhesive film and individually cut out by hand ­ a process designed to produce the appearance of decals on the Dibond Brushed Silver. Because Dibond features a black thermoplastic core, Engraphix craftsmen were able to simulate bolts on the nose piece by drilling down to the core. The propeller was airbrushed to create a spinning effect.

Engine exhausts were constructed with three layers of routed 6 mm black Sintra, the trusted brand leader in premium graphic display boards. Sintra is a lightweight-yet-rigid expanded PVC material that is available in a wide range of thicknesses from 1 mm to 19 mm in various sheet sizes and a rainbow of colors. Sintra cuts cleanly, creating smooth edges. It can be direct digitally printed and direct screen printed and can accept vinyl graphics. Sintra fabricates easily without special tools and can be heat formed and laminated to other materials.

The landing gear and wings were fabricated with multiple layers of 3 mm silver metallic Dibond and 3 mm gray Sintra finished with airbrushed highlights. Landing gear wheels were fabricated from 6 mm black Sintra and featured hubcaps routed from 6 mm gray Sintra with trim routed from 3 mm Dibond Brushed Silver. The hubcaps’ serrated edges were produced by digitally programming scallops into the computerized router.

All of the display pieces were adhered to a base of 6 mm black Sintra with double-faced tape and silicone adhesive.

While design and manufacture of the real Spirit of St. Louis airplane took approximately three months from order to delivery (February-April 1927), design and fabrication of the Spirit of St. Louis display was completed in approximately three weeks. The result, while not the vehicle for an internationally recognized feat of aviation, did produce a lifelike commemoration of the real one.

“The Spirit of St. Louis display photographed quite nicely for our advertisement,” said Meacham. Fabrication specifications for each icon, including the Spirit of St. Louis, are included in the “Legends” print ads. Additionally, new literature pieces entitled, “Choosing Your Graphic Display Board Is Easier Than Ever,” provide product information as well as fabrication and application guidelines for each graphic display board available from Alcan Composites USA. To request complimentary literature or additional product information, call 1-800-626-3365 or email info.usa@alcan.com.

® Sintra, Dibond and Fome-Cor are registered trademarks of Alcan Composites USA Inc.
™ Gator is a trademark of Alcan Composites USA Inc.

Alcan Composites
St. Louis, MO
Phone: 800-626-3365
E-Mail: info.usa@alcan.com
Website URL: www.alcancompositesusa.com