The Postal Service commemorated Classic American Aircraft with the issuance of a pane of twenty 32-cent stamps on July 19, 1997, in Dayton, Ohio. The stamps went on sale nationwide July 21.
The pane was designed by Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Virginia, and illustrated by William Phillips, one of the world's leading aviation print artists. Twenty-two different classic American aircraft are featured on the pane, twenty on the stamps and two on the header. The civilian and wartime aircraft collection emphasizes the innovative and technological advances spanning the first fifty years of American aviation history.
The stamps were sold only as a pane of twenty, not as individual stamps. This marked the fifth "Classic Collection" of stamps issued by the Postal Service. Stamp Venturers, Inc., printed the stamps in the gravure process.
