48th Paris Airshow, 100 years of industry

Text : Serge Van Heertum -  pictures : Serge Van Heertum & Eddy Devroey  - S.B.A.P. ©

In 1908, well-known pilots like Blériot, Breguet or Voisin brought aviation from sport to an industrial and commercial activity.   The International Paris Airshow is the oldest aviation event in the world. After one century, it became the largest one in this category.   Tarnished by the economical crisis, the  2009 edition is also « victim » of the crash that happened on the 1st of june to an Air France Airbus A330 flying from Rio to Paris, in which the plane was lost at sea under mysterious circumstances.

The Paris airshow, which closed its doors on Sunday 21st was still a succes for the organistors with 127 planes ordered (58 firms and 69 options) to Airbus for an estimated amount of 12.9 billion US dollars. It’s realy less compared with the results registrated two years before with an amount of 98.00 billion US dollars, but Airbus remains the leader before its American rival Boeing.

During one week the 48th edition attracted 360.000 visitors. "It's about the same level as in 2007", explained Louis Portz, the director of this event.

Because of the economical situation, the number of professional visitors decreased to 140.000 compared with the 150,000 in 2007.

American Boeing, publicly released that only one firm order (worth 153 million dollars) for two narrow bodies B737-800 was signed with MC Aviation Partners (MCAP), a subsidiary of the Japanese group Mitsubishi. The ordering policy of Boeing is different from Airbus. Boeing announces the orders every time they get one, while Airbus keeps them only to be announced during great commercial events as the Paris International Airshow.

Airbus A380 one of Paris Airshow highlight (courtesy Airbus Industry)	Assembly line of Boeing (courtesy Boeing company)

As for new planes presented at Le Bourget, only one was found : The Sukhoi Superjet 100  constructed in cooperation with Alenia Italy. It is a narrow body from the category of the Bombardier C series or the Embraer 190. The Superjet 100 is already ordered for an amount of 233 samples (149 firms and 84 options). The company got orders during the Paris Airshow from Malev Hungaria (15 firms + 15 options), Gadair European Airlines from Spain (2 firms + 2 options) and Gazprom of Russia (10 firms). This aircraft is offered in two versions : Superjet 100-75 and Superjet 100-95.

The superjet 100 and his military "brothers"  (courtesy Sukhoi)
First presentation at Paris Le Bourtget of this new generation airliner

Le Bourget was also the occasion to announce the progressions in the negotiations  between Dassault Aviation and the United Arab Emirates who are interested in the most mordern French combat aircraft Rafale. UAE announced officially their technical requirements to the French authorities. Till now the Rafale aircraft has never been exported and UAE is a real oportunity to start with it. “An excellent news”, said the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, since we know that the United Arab Emirates has planned to replace their Mirage 2000 fleet by 2013.

The United Arab Emirates are interested in the french combat aircraft Rafale from Dassault Aviation  (courtesy Dassault Aviation)

The guideline of the Paris Airshow was of course the celebration of 100 years Paris Airshow. Therefore a flying program was established with the participation of many old aviation glories like a B-17G, a Mirage III from Switzserland or a splendid Caudron Rafale (Impossible to get a correct picture, because of the crowd around this marvelous piece of history at the static display)More informations about this fabulous plane on the web site Le rêve d'icare. This edition was also the great come back of the prestigeous « Patrouille de France » who never flew at the Paris Airshow after a dramatic crash in 1975.

The Caudron Rafale, a reccords plane (courtesy Wilfried Tosseyn)	A splendid work in flight (courtesy Wilfried Tosseyn)

2009 was a good edition, sadly not as good as 2007, but lets hope that the financial and international situation will be better and that the next edition will be like the once held in the « golden years ».

Static display overview.

Israeli Air Force Gulfstream G550 Nachshon Aitam	SOCATA TBM 850
Eurocopter EC-225 Super Puma	Eurocopter EC-145
Eurocopter EC-175	MAGNI M24 Orion
Bell 412EP	OMA Sud Skycar a new concept 5 seatter
AVIALSA Air Tractor AT-802 armed version	AVIALSA Air Tractor AT-802 fire bomber version
Pilatus PC-21, the new generation Swiss trainer	Agusta Westland AB-139
Agusta Westlad AW-139 in the Defense Helicopter Flying School (RAF) colors	ATR-72-500 original colors of the propeler
The EJ200 engine of the Eurofighter (Eddy Devroey)	Antonov AN 148-100B
NH90-NFH Italian Navy	C27J Spartan Italian Air Force

Focus on a new generation tourism aircraft : the LH-10 ELLIPSE

The LH-10 Ellipse, fast and sporty, is the new kitplane developed by the French company LH Aviation.
A two seat sport plane with a mid-engine and pusher propeller, it will make many heads turn on any airfield. What makes the LH-10 Ellipse stand out is its usability and wide speed range. While sightseeing at 100 kts (eco cruise), you will enjoy the exceptional visibility and low noise offered by the LH-10 Ellipse, while burning only 1.8 gallons of fuel per hour. But this aircraft can also cross the country at high speed, while sitting in a large and comfortable cockpit and leaving most light airplanes on the market way behind. The goal of this pretty airplane is to get the higher performances with a minimum of power. The work of the engineers was to decrease a maximum the wheight with the use of the new generations materials like carbon fibers. The principal innovation is the propulsion configuration. The engine and the transmission are positionned on the center of the plane and the push power system are giving the higher performances for this category of tourism aircraft.  It will certainly become a must in the airclubs in the coming years !
More informations can be found on the web site : LH Aviation

Proposed in kit, the new generation of tourism airplane will certainly be a success (picture of the kit : courtesy of LH Aviation)

Big presence of the U.S.A.F. and the U.S.Navy

Many planes of the U.S.Air Force and also the U.S.Navy where presented in the static show and also during the afternoon flying display. U.S. planes are always a great attraction during European Airshows. In this way the visitors can have a look at the war machines used in the instable countries of the world they hear and see about every day in all kinds of media. We present here an overview of the present aircrafts.

Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet from VFA-106	Lockheed Martin F-16CJ-50-CF from 22 Fighter Squadron
Grumman E-2C+  Hawkeye from VX-20 Squadron	Grumman C-2 Greyhound from VX-20 Squadron
Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk from 41st RQS	Lockheed Martin HC-130P Hercules from 39th RQS
C-17A Globemaster III from 437th AW/315th AW from  Charleston AFB

Old glories at Paris to commemorate the 100 years of this international event.

The past and the present, topic of  the static display during the week of Paris Airshow 2009. Some old glories went to Paris for the complete week and the public could admire those historic planes. Other ones came to Le Bourget only during the week-end show. We present here an overview of these planes wich wrote a part of the aviation history.

Bleriot XI	Douglas DC-3A Dakota
Ryan PT-22	North American Rockwell OV-10B Bronco
Potez CM-170 Fouga Magister	Lockheed l-1049F Super Constellation
Dassault Mirage IIIDS (Eddy Devroey)

Daily flying display

During the week, this event is only open for professional visitors and media. Every day a flying display shows a part of the present airplanes. Most of them are the industrial highlights of the moment like the Rafale or the Airbus A380. Of course the goal is to get new potential customers. During the demonstrations flights, the pilots shows the spectacular capabilities of their machines. For each company a new contract is always welcome and in fact, the Paris Airshow is firstly a window on the aeronautical industry.

A splendid demonstration of French Air Force Rafale	In one word : agility and power !
Rafale demonstration performed by the EC01.091 from Saint Dizier	The first Rafale display pilot Captain Cedric "Rut" Ruet
Turn to the holding point for the Airbus A380-861	One of the star at take-off
High turn for the giant	Soft landing after the demonstration (Eddy Devroey)
Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon	High power combat aircraft
The EF-2000 is presented by the Italian Air Force	Back to the ground for the EF-2000 of IX gruppo
C27J Spartan from Alenia Italy	A top of maniability
Aermacchi M-346 "Master"	The next generation jet trainer from Italy
Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet from VFA-106	Full power touch and go
U.S.Navy actual top fighter	Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 from 41st AS 463rd AG (Eddy Devroey)
Much maniability for a big plane	Lockheed Martin F-16CJ-50-CF from 22 Fighter Squadron
F-16 is always a top multirole fighter	Landing for this Spangdahlem based F-16
Rendez-vous in 2011 at Paris Airshow, Le Bourget Airport

The SBAP team would thanks the GIFAS (Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales) for the accreditation
and particularly Mister Didier MIGNOT, communication director for his help during our visit at Paris Airshow 2009.

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