Just back from three weeks in Paris. And, yes, we went to the 55th Paris air show, the first since 2019 I think, due of course to Covid. It was packed with visitors and Paris itself was sweltering in a 36 C heatwave over the public weekend. As to the show, the 'best' day was the Friday when I got there early and was able to get through the gate without too much hassle while on Saturday the scenes of carnage to get in at the two gates 'L' and 'O' were incredible. I had the bright idea of trying to get into the show via the museum entrance - until some officious person with a scanner barred my way. No digital tickets at the museum entrance. Undeterred I went into the town and found a phone shop willing and able to print my 18 euro digital ticket out on paper from my phone! Friday was great but the crowds on Saturday made the whole experience rather unpleasant. And on Sunday I took the advice of a friend and stayed outside the perimeter fencing, heading instead to the car parks at the end of runway where I hooked up with a few other knowledgeable enthusiasts. There was a police presence here of course but standing slightly back from the fence we were not bothered by officialdom. Everything in the show took off and landed directly over our heads - providing a view of the flying display that was second to none and far better than being in the show, which was great!
And thanks to 'Tanguy' for putting up with my chat all afternoon!
Inside the airfield itself, there were lots of weird and wonderful contraptions on display ..and I don't mean the F-35. Some of them even flew, but the idea that we'll get 'real' electric planes worthy of the name is just pie in the sky in my humble opinion. I mean there were some electric craft flying - including the American Beta team which has decent range and endurance and everything else but still looks a long long way from being a 'useful' machine. Besides, the last person to design a machine that looked like a bird was Leonardo da Vinci! The Beta Technologies machine did recently become the first electric machine to fly into an airport in the New York/ New Jersey region. The company have also raised millions of $$$ in funding since 2017.
A few more pics coming soon..
Beta Technolgies lands passenger-carrying electric aircraft at New york airport
