Does anyone know where I can get clear acrylic rods that are used to display planes in flight?

Have you tried large craft stores?
If so and they don't have what you want then let your fingers do the walking in the yellow pages. Look under plastics for manufactures or wholesalers. Acrylic rods are used by special effect companies for movies and TV. Try calling one of them. You would be surprised how helpful one of the FX people are when you ask them for help.

You should be able to obtain various sizes of acrylic rod from Plastruct, either in hobby stores or direct via their web site. http://www.plastruct.com

Hey, thanks guys. The plastic companies I've tried locally just aren't interested in selling me 2-3 feet of acrylic rod. I guess they cater to industry who buys lots at a time. I will go through plasticstruct as suggested since thir site is more "hobby friendly". Thanks again for your suggestions.