Around a year ago, show organisers SBAC decided to mark the 50th anniversary of Farnborough in a special way- but the question was, how?
Initial discussions soon resulted in the idea of a display of aviation ephemera to mark the show's half century and the SBAC's member companies were approached to obtain a suitable selection of historically significant items.
SBAC head of exhibitions Kim Scott worked with her deputy Derek Francis and aviation company Cobham's aviation historian Colin Cruddas to put together the exhibition under the headings of powerplants; landing gears; crew survival; structures and aerodynamics; avionics; and air-to-air refuelling.
The resulting display (alongside the historic static park) tells the story of British aviation in a graphic and fascinating manner, concentrating on the people, the events and the technology rather than today's obsession with corporate affairs.
Many of the bits and pieces have never been seen in public before - like the air-to-air refuelling rig from an Avro Lancaster bomber (developed by Cobham) which was never used in anger as the dropping of the atomic bombs in 1945 ended the war in the Far East.
Source: Flight Daily News
