Students of political symbolism will enjoy the arrival of British Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine to open the show this morning.
In the mid-1980s, Heseltine quit the cabinet of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in a row over the future of the British helicopter industry.
The "Westland row" nearly brought down the government and many thought Heseltine's career was over.
In fact, Heseltine's career flourished. A natural choice for the opening of the show, he is hailed as a champion of the British aerospace industry.
He is arriving ... in a Westland-owned helicopter.
Source: Flight International