I'm not sure what I expected from last week's Farnborough air show, but I have to say it was a bit of a mixed bag.
The Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, making its UK debut at Farnborough this year, was the star of the show in my view. I have always been quite skeptical of this machine, thinking that despite it's design objectives it would be an inevitable compromise between the benefits of fixed-wing and rotary - an opinion hardened by the difficult gestation this creation has experienced.
But to see the V-22 zoom across the flight line in full 'fixed-wing' mode, then moments later be in the hover on the main runway, makes you realise how flexible this thing could be. It didn't seem to be as dynamic in the hover as a helicopter - spot-turns looked lethargic - but you could see how this thing could get a bunch of special forces in and out of a remote place with ease.
At the other end of the spectrum was the AH-64D Apache Longbow. A very dull display made up of maneuvres far to high off the ground to be exciting and puctuated by the momentary thrill of a couple of inversions. I'd like to see our helicopter display ace Dennis Kenyon come out of retirement to show Boeing how to show off an Apache. I think he'd do a lot more stuff sideways at 50 feet, that's what these machines are all about.
On the static display side of things, Agusta had the best range of machines on show. It was on this stand that I noticed what a lovely aircraft the A119 is in the flesh. Sleek, purposeful - a lot of the presence of it's 'twin' brother the A109. I guess this is up against the Bell 407, which is basically an upgraded LongRanger. What would you rather have, a four-bladed LongRanger or a single engine A109 with skids? I know what I'd choose, it's just a shame they called it the Koala.
Comments