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Old 22nd July 2014, 20:28   #1
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Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

It all started when I received a call from my cousin in mid June to check whether I would be free to attend an airshow in July , planes have always fascinated me since my childhood , during my college days most of my weekends were spent on my friends apartment terrace in Begumpet ( Hyderabad ) which had lovely views of the old airport runway watching flights land and take off for hours together , when I moved to London in 2002 I was amazed to find clear views of the Heathrow runway from the car park and the bust stop , many a evening was spent with friends just watching planes fly off into the horizon , immediately answered yes to my cousin and the tickets were booked for the Farnborough International Airshow for Saturday 19 July .

Farnborough International Airshow - It is a biennial event staged at Farnborough roughly around 30 miles away from London , it is one of the biggest aircraft + related peripherals exhibition & airshow in Europe and attracts the top players from the industry , whilst the event is held over a week it is open for the public only at the weekend through ticket purchase. This year FIA was held from 14-20 July 2014.

Since the tickets arrived I was counting the days out and was super excited , the weather was absolutely glorious as the week started which meant 100 % participation of the listed aircraft at the weekend show , however it is common knowledge that you cannot trust weather up here in England , you can witness all the seasons in one single day and so it happened , there were severe thunderstorms around London on Thursday and the forecast predicted rains on Saturday casting a shadow of doubt over the airshow itself , we decided that come what may we will make it to the airshow and had a plan B to drive else where if the show was cancelled .

Woke up early on the day and set off from home at 07:45 am , large crowds and significant traffic jams were expected and we certainly did not fancy being stuck on the M3 for hours together , although it was only 30 miles drive from my house we were at the gates by 09:10 am as we had to park few miles away and take the shuttle bus to reach the venue . The airshow was meant to start at 12:30 pm thus giving us ample time to go through the various static exhibits and get into some aircraft.

Without boring you any further , here are some pics from the day ,I ended up clicking close to 2000 pics and the attached pics are just a snap shot of the collection, kindly excuse the quality and the framing angles as it was extremely crowded and there was very little room around to wriggle and get a decent shot .

Few Details regarding the attached pics -

Pic 6 - Blackhawk
Pic 7 - Augusta West land 149
Pic 8 - Augusta West Land 189
( Augusta West Land was in the news in India not too long ago regarding some corrupt deals )
Pic 10 - Selex ES Falco - All weather Unmanned Aerial Vehicle used for civil and military surveillance
Pic 11 - P1 HH Hammerhead - Medium Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Drone
Pic 14 - 2000 LX - private Jet for the rich and the mighty
Pic 15 - NH 90 - Military Transporter
Pic 16 - Airbus A 400 - The needle like structure on the top of the cockpit is used to refuel other military aircraft in mid air.
Pic 17 - the famous A 380 - Was amazed by its versatility in the air , very nimble manoeuvres
Pic 18,19, 20 - Harrier II
Pic 21,22,23 - Avro Vulcan
Pic 24 -30 - Breitling Wing Walker - Was one of the highlights of the show for me personally , the girls are strapped to a pole like structure on top of the wings and perform stunts at high altitude , at one point they took of their safety straps at high altitude which was jaw dropping , true dare devils in my book.

Few more pics to follow shortly -
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Old 22nd July 2014, 21:34   #2
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

Very nice. Thanks for sharing. I've been to the Farnborough show many times in the past, but not recently. Would love to see it again.

You're very lucky to have seen the Avro Vulcan. It's on its last legs as there is only a limited number of flying hours left on this air frame. They almost did not make the 2014 display season. With modern techniques it looks like they'll make it in 2015, but I don't think anybody has a real understanding how to take it forward after that.

Magnificent plane with a remarkable history. Played a major role in the Falklands war, albeit the choice to deploy Vulcan was controversial to say the least.

Other then a magnificent air and static display show, Farnborough used to be one of the top family attractions with lots to see and do for the whole family.

Jeroen
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Old 22nd July 2014, 21:57   #3
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeroen View Post
Very nice. Thanks for sharing. I've been to the Farnborough show many times in the past, but not recently. Would love to see it again.

You're very lucky to have seen the Avro Vulcan. It's on its last legs as there is only a limited number of flying hours left on this air frame. They almost did not make the 2014 display season. With modern techniques it looks like they'll make it in 2015, but I don't think anybody has a real understanding how to take it forward after that.

Magnificent plane with a remarkable history. Played a major role in the Falklands war, albeit the choice to deploy Vulcan was controversial to say the least.

Other then a magnificent air and static display show, Farnborough used to be one of the top family attractions with lots to see and do for the whole family.

Jeroen
Yes Jeroen , you are right , have seen the Vulcan in RAF museum in Hendon, London . It is truly magnificent , there was a fund raising stall to keep it going in Farnborough ( I believe it was vulcan to the sky trust ) , also was very impressed by RAF Typhoon (Eurofighter Typhoon) , although did definitely miss the F-35 , apparently there were some issues detected in US and were withdrawn a week before the show .
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Old 23rd July 2014, 00:04   #4
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

As mentioned in my previous post , the next set of pics and a brief info of the same -

Pic 1- Airbus A 400
Pic 2 - A 380
Pic 3-6 - Boeing F-18
Pic 7&8 - RAF Typhoon ( Eurofighter Typhhon )
Pic 9-16 - RAF Red Arrows - The attached display was one of the highlights of the event , just didn't want it to end.
Pic 17 - Our very own HAL stall , very proud of the progress being made.
Pic 18-20 - WW1 Aircraft
Pic 21 - Pilatus PC 21 ( Military Trainer Aircraft )
Pic 23 - A preview of the Airbus A 350 cockpit
Pic 24 - DeLorean car - The same one from Back to the future movie series.

Regards
Vickzkool
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Old 23rd July 2014, 20:06   #5
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

The P1HH Hammerhead looks dangerous.

What did HAL showcase?
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Old 23rd July 2014, 21:52   #6
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by raghubhaskar View Post
The P1HH Hammerhead looks dangerous.

What did HAL showcase?
Raghu
The hammerhead is a multi purpose medium altitude long endurance drone which was unveiled in early 2013 , it can fly up to 45000 feet and 16 hours , primary usage is for intelligence ,surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions . There was a news article in Nov 2013 which suggested that Italy was in the process of buying 10 of these and immigration control was one of the stated purpose.

Hammerhead Info

Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK-hammer-head-info.jpg

HAL pavilion was closed for general public on Saturday , if I was there on Friday I would have been allowed to get in as it is called as fabulous Farnborough Friday which gives access to all the trade stalls before they were taken down , however advertising did suggest that HAL showcased Tejas ( Light Combat Aircraft ), Dhruv ( Military Helicopter ) and few others which I couldn't get info.

Dhruv ( Apologies for the poor pic , couldn't help with many buggies parked )
Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK-dhruv.jpg

Tejas
Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK-tejas.jpg
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Old 23rd July 2014, 22:38   #7
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

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Originally Posted by vickzkool View Post
Raghu
The hammerhead is a multi purpose medium altitude long endurance drone which was unveiled in early 2013 , it can fly up to 45000 feet and 16 hours , primary usage is for intelligence ,surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions .

These drones are something else! Some of them are huge, with very impressive capabilities, look at the specs, that's not a small airplane by any stretch of the imagination.

Here another picture of another drone, that will give you some sense of size. http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads.../IAI-drone.jpg

I was reading somewhere that the USAF, soon, will have more 'drone-pilots' then 'regular pilots'. And that's a problem, because being a drone pilot isn't considered as glamorous or interesting as being a real pilot. So some of the real pilots are now being transitioned to become drone pilots, much to their disgust.

Having said that, there is also lots of evidence that drone-pilots suffer from identical stress levels flying these drones into war zones and combat areas as the real pilots who strap on their real planes and put their real lives at risk.

Difficult to comprehend, because you tend to think of a drone pilot as a glorified overpaid X-box player at best, but apparently that is not the case at all.

So now we have pilots controlling remotely, from the other side of the world, combat missions, still suffering from all your typical battle fatigue and stress. I guess it's called progress.

Just remembered something for those who are interested in the Avro Vulcan. If you find yourself in the UK anywhere near Norwich, Norfolk go and see this museum. http://www.museumsnorfolk.org.uk/cit...viation-museum

They have a Vulcan on display and more importantly they let you sit in the cockpit. It is a rare experience. It resembles a fighter cockpit, stick no yoke and very, very cramped. Try and imagine crossing the Atlantic in one of these outdated, cramped, low tech environments, multiple air to air refueling (which had not been done with this plane for decades) and on your way to the Falklands. You can say a lot about the British, but their armed forces have always had a lot of bottle!

This is one of the best books (my opinion) about this feat: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vulcan-607-R.../dp/0552152293

Jeroen
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Old 23rd July 2014, 22:52   #8
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeroen View Post

Just remembered something for those who are interested in the Avro Vulcan. If you find yourself in the UK anywhere near Norwich, Norfolk go and see this museum. http://www.museumsnorfolk.org.uk/cit...viation-museum


This is one of the best books (my opinion) about this feat: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vulcan-607-R.../dp/0552152293

Jeroen
Book ordered and trip to Norfolk being planned , thanks Jeroen for the info , have planned a visit to RAF museum in London the week after and probably will do Norfolk for the August Bank holiday , please feel free to pm me if you have any other interesting pointers
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Old 23rd July 2014, 23:04   #9
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

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Book ordered and trip to Norfolk being planned , thanks Jeroen for the info , have planned a visit to RAF museum in London the week after and probably will do Norfolk for the August Bank holiday , please feel free to pm me if you have any other interesting pointers
Good for you.
Better give them a ring on forehand to see if the Vulcan is open to the public on the day you intend to visit. I haven't been there for a while so you might want to check.

Of course, London has some great museum. But if you are traveling from London to Norfolk, I suggest to go via Duxford, just South of Cambridge. It is the largest and the most amazing aviation museum in the UK, if not in Europe.

Here are some of my pics:

http://www.india.jeroendorrestein.co...ford_2013.html

and the story I wrote for Team BHP:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...uxford-uk.html

Also, you might want to check where there are some air shows:

http://www.airshows.org.uk/2014/cale...-calendar.html

Enjoy, do take some pictures and share here on the forum!
Let me know what you think of the book.

Jeroen
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Old 26th July 2014, 01:02   #10
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

Thank you, very nice pictures. Made my day.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vickzkool View Post
Pic 16 - Airbus A 400 - The needle like structure on the top of the cockpit is used to refuel other military aircraft in mid air.
Small correction: what you referred to is actually the refuelling probe used to receive fuel from another tanker's drogue. To refuel other planes the A-400 can be outfitted with two hose drogue units under its wings.
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Old 28th July 2014, 00:42   #11
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Re: Farnborough International Airshow 2014, UK

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Thank you, very nice pictures. Made my day.



Small correction: what you referred to is actually the refuelling probe used to receive fuel from another tanker's drogue. To refuel other planes the A-400 can be outfitted with two hose drogue units under its wings.
Thanks for pointing it out Pacifica , was reading about the A400 and it's workings and you got it absolutely spot on.
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