Farnborough 2008

WARNING! - This post may be unbearable for those of you who don't love aviation. Proceed at your own risk.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to check off one of the items from "The List". Thanks to a free ticket provided by my boss, I attended the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, UK. Each year Farnborough and Paris alternate hosting this week long event. It is by far the most comprehensive airshow in the world. It's similar to Oshkosh, but while Oshkosh is more focused on the average American, Farnborough is focused on business. It's both airshow and aerospace industry trade show. There are several huge buildings filled with stands / displays from companies that make everything from the smallest gasket to Airbus and Boeing that make the largest of aircraft. In addition, the bigger companies will have their own building on site. It's here where big customers are schmoozed and big deals made. Farnborough is the place where everyone unveils their new aircraft (like the Detroit autoshow), where the high rollers come to test drive and pick out their new corporate jet, and where million dollar deals are made between companies and governments.

Monday through Friday of the show are "trade show" days or "corporate" days. These days are not for the general public, but are reserved for those with some kind of tie to the aerospace industry. My ticket was good for any day, including "corporate" days. So Friday morning with the help of new trusty iPhone I drove the 2 hours east to the airstrip, just south of Farnborough, UK. I spent the first couple hours strolling about indoors looking at all the displays. Some of you may have found this boring, but for aviation enthusiast like myself, it's like being a kid in a toy store. I was struck by the extravagance of the displays (you'll see in some of the pictures below). Big screen flat panels displays, scale and lifesize models and cutaways, and fancy lighting everywhere. Some "stands" where two stories, the top story being reserved for VIP's. Some were serving snacks and drinks. These companies spend a lot of money (some hundreds of thousands of dollars I'm sure) to put their best, most impressive foot forward. One interesting moment to note is when I found myself behind enemy lines. I had wandered into the MiG and Sukhoi displays... Russian territoy. I must admit I felt a little chill run down my spine and felt the need to look over my shoulder. Oh, and I did take the opportunity to talk to some folks at the Rolls-Royce display (do a little networking myself).

I then headed outside where there were many aircraft on display. Many were military in nature, similar to what you might see at an American airshow, but there were also many corporate aircraft on display. Dassualts, Cessna, and Learjets... oh my. And lots of corporate helicopters too (like AugustWestland). These are the toys and tools of the very rich. When walking about the show your just one door away from what I like to call "the parallel universe".

Then came the flight portion of the airshow. Unlike an American airshow, flight demonstrations at Farnborough are compacted into a 2-1/2 hour span. But you see more demos in that 2-1/2 hours than you would all day at an American airshow. I say "demos" because that's the feeling you get when watching them. In general, each plane flew for no more than 15 minutes. It's as if they say to the pilot, "You've got 15 minutes to make me want to by this airplane. Show me what you got." And boy do they. From takeoff to landing it's an action packed 15 minutes. Whether it's the huge Airbus A380 or the agile Eurofighter Typhoon, they fly these birds hard. The day I was there was typical UK weather (cold, windy, with an occasional lite rain) so the cloud ceiling was around 3,000 feet. Because of that the planes stayed low and tight... which seemed to suit the pilots just fine. These days I think the two things fighters like to tout is agility and maneuverability. Who can make the tightest turn? Who can pull back on the stick and swing the tail end around the quickest. This is why you see thrust vectoring (F-22) and canards (Eurofighter Typhoon) in modern fighters. And the results are impressive. For those of you who haven't been to an airshow in 10-20 years, jet fighters are doing things now that make you ask yourself, "Is that even possible?" You think they must be breaking some fundamental law of flight. These jets are doing things that was once reserved for little prop-driven aerobatic planes like the extra 300 or Pitts. When was the last time you saw a 30,000 lb jet hang by it's "prop" or do a tailslide?

Unlike an American airshow, at Farnborough you can stand not too far from the runway. And throughout the flight demos I stood at the approach end of the runway where I got to see the planes taxi into position, spool up their engines, release the brakes, and begin to accelerate down the runway. The best part was the sounds. To hear that high-pitched whine and hiss of an idling gas turbine turn into a roar that can shake the ground is an adrenaline rush. When the F-18 took off there was an instant that I feared damage to my hearing. And as the fighters pulled away you could see the fire from the afterburner up the exhaust nozzles.

Below are some pictures from my day. And below that are some videos I pulled from YouTube of Farnborough 2008. The videos I took were OK, but those below are from this year's show as well and very representative of what I saw. Enjoy.



Airbus A380


Eurofigher Typhoon



F-16 Fighting Falcon


Vulcan


Red Arrows