What an exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable day.
I haven’t been to the Farnborough Airshow for many years so thought I would catch up on aerospace developments this year. The main focus being on what people are doing with Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing). Some really intricate structures which seem to be as much art as engineering, and all the better for it! I was particularly impressed with some of the metal printing producing precursors to forging. Some of the photos I took:
However, one slightly surprising/disappointing aspect is some of the old tech still being displayed. Probably very indicative of this was the display by the F16. Not sure how old I was when I first saw one display, but I know I had hair! Still, loved the noise and drama.
Very impressive C-130 display, again despite the old tech. The 727 was rather too retro!
But on that note, I really loved re-encountering the Piaggio Avanti. I did a study on this aircraft back as a freshly graduated engineer. It was fascinating and I am so surprised the layout has not been more copied. It was quite a “sportscar” of biz-jets as you’d expect coming out of Italy. Now it’s also developed into a drone (of course).
Lastly, of course, a fabulous opportunity to network. Meeting some new contacts but especially some of my ex-colleagues I haven’t seen for many years, one I haven’t seen since graduation (30 years ago, gasp!) as he’s spent the last 21 years in the States. So we had A LOT to catch up on.
Think I’ll do it all again in 2020.
Engineering and Beyond 