I'm trying to paint a bare-metal plane. I need something close to Polished Aluminum. Since the airbrush is still 10 years down the road I have to use rattle cans. Is chrome an acceptable alternative?

IMHO, chrome would be too shiny for an airplane in service. Can you get hold of ModelMaster buffing aluminum metalizer in a can? I've used that for a couple aircraft I didn't want to spend all day airbrushing and had pretty good results. Once buffed up, they were almost mirror reflective.