Large size measuring approx. 31" x 21". Published by GLAVLIT (Chief Literary Publishing House), circulation only 50,000 copies. The poster was published to propagandize the propaganda airplane Maxim Gorky which was built mainly on donations from renowned Soviet literary, scientific, public figures as well as ordinary Soviet citizens. Its chief constructor was Andrei Tupolev who used Hugo Junkers' (Germany) all-metal design.

The poster is in very good to excellent condition. Two darkish stains, although noticeable, are too small to be truly detractive against the large size of the

Large size measuring approx. 31" x 21". Published by GLAVLIT (Chief Literary Publishing House), circulation only 50,000 copies. The poster was published to propagandize the propaganda airplane Maxim Gorky which was built mainly on donations from renowned Soviet literary, scientific, public figures as well as ordinary Soviet citizens. Its chief constructor was Andrei Tupolev who used Hugo Junkers' (Germany) all-metal design.

The poster is in very good to excellent condition. Two darkish stains, although noticeable, are too small to be truly detractive against the large size of the poster. Other wear includes old fold lines which are quite flattened out now and not very intrusive to the eye. In a couple of their intersections, the paper has worn off showing tiny holes of separations. The edges and corners show spots of minor wear - again, too small against the large poster to matter. If desired, all the wear can be repaired on the verso with library tape.

The story of the ANT-20 Maxim Gorky is an absolutely fascinating example of the phantasmagoria of Soviet reality.

The airplane, with its wing span of 212 ft (64.6 m), similar to that of Boeing-747, was the largest in the world until 1941 when the prototype of Douglas XB-19 heavy bomber took off for its test flight. It was meant to be the flagship of the Maxim Gorky propaganda brigade to fly around the Soviet Union extolling the goals and achievements of the Soviet State. For that purpose, it was equipped like a multimedia station, with a powerful radio transmitter known as the "voice from the sky", a photo laboratory, printing equipment, film projector with sound, and even a plush editorial office in the nose, topped with a grand view from its windows.

On 18 May 1934, the Maxim Gorky and three other aircraft showed in the skies over Moscow for a demonstration flight. The other planes, deliberately much smaller in size, were there to underscore the enormity of the grandiose behemoth. One of them, a tiny Polikarpov I-5 biplane, began performing loops around the MG. On the third loop, it collided with the MG. Both planes crashed into a residential neighborhood. The death tally included the I-5 pilot, the MG crew members and thirty-three passengers, plus nine more people on the ground who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The replacement, ANT-20bis, went into construction after another big round of donation raising. The money was supposed to be enough for fifteen planes. Fifteen names were assigned. However, only one airplane was built. What happened to the donations for the other fourteen planes remains publicly unknown. Perhaps only one aircraft was built because it proved to be completely unprofitable. It was almost identical with the Maxim Gorky but had six more powerful engines. It first flew in 1938 (1939 according to some sources). After the "Maxim Gorky" fiasco, the unique aircraft, symbol of the Soviet aerial might, was sold to Aeroflot and did regular commercial passenger flights between Moscow and Mineralnye Vody, a balneological resort town in the Caucasus. When WW2 broke out, attempts were made to repurpose the airplane as a military aircraft, but nothing came out of it. When Wehrmacht was approaching Moscow in 1941, a decision was made to relocate the unique and very expensive ANT-20bis east, away from danger. For a few months it served mostly as a cargo plane, flying between Russia and the Central Asian Soviet republics.

On 14 December 1942, its pilot allowed a passenger to take his seat, and left the cockpit. The passenger, by accident or through sheer clumsiness, stupidity or arrogance, activated the stabilizer control switch and raised the stabilizer. The plane nosedived from an altitude of about 1,500 ft (500m), killing all 36 people on board. Legend has it that the pilot's body was found afterwards somewhere in the fuselage, stark naked.

The top left-hand corner of the poster quotes Stalin's proud announcement: "We did not have any aviation industry. We have it now." The verso of the poster with its pencil drawings of aircraft parts tells us: "The Maxim Gorky may be dead, but aviation lives on!"

Please note that the pen in our photo is for size reference.

Note: due to the thinness of the paper, we will ship the poster not folded but rolled onto a tube, sealed in plastic, and put into a sturdy cardboard mailing tube.
$570.00  Add to cart