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Paris Air Show 2009: A walk around the world's largest air show
Stepping off the shuttle bus from RER Bourget into the air show grounds, you begin to digest the magnitude of this event. From a plan of the show, one can see that aircraft displays and flights take place at one corner of the airport. The other two thirds of the show can be seen inside of several massive exhibit halls, where a curious visitor can spend an entire week walking up, down and through the displays. Set your bag down, gaze down an aisle and marvel as booths extend beyond your field of vision.
These aren't low budget, Lincoln Log booths either. As the show is in France, many companies have cafés integrated into their exhibits, where passers by can grab an espresso, look over the wares and discuss business in a comfortable, European setting.
A million smaller displays feature tiny facets from suppliers, facilitators and buyers around the planet, with a few eager representatives waiting to give you their pitch. On the other end of the spectrum, displays from GE, United Technologies and Pratt and Whitney have full engines on site, where you can step into the cowling, poke the fan blades and get your photo taken inside of the massive, circular maze.
Out on the tarmac you can wander around the myriad displays, from the massive A380 to the drone helicopters to the missile defense systems, jostling around military brass, men in power suits and women in high heels and sun glasses.
And as with all air shows, there is a flight component. A tightly regimented flight schedule is published each day, detailing a few hours of quick, varied demonstrations. New aircraft are obviously highlighted (this year Sukhoi's Superjet 100 was a treat,) but with the centennial this year, several older aircraft were mixed in with the show. We'll tell you more about that later.
We'll be posting pictures and videos from the air show for the next week or so (including a sweet demonstration of the 787 window technology.) Come back and visit often.
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