Jetrader - Autumn 2015 - 19

10. Fokker 100 with supersonic ambitions.
11. A well-proportioned jetliner: the CS300 test vehicle.
12

during the trade days, to block the view
on the runway as much as possible for the
visitors. Obviously ISTAT members have a
very privileged position, as once more,
the ISTAT Chalet was perfectly located and
offered everything one can ask for. Ron
Pietrzak and his team were there to welcome all members and their guests, showing
themselves to be the perfect hosts, as they
did at Farnborough. The chalet offered a
nice air-conditioned atmosphere, snacks,
including "Adam's delicious ice cream," and
a terrace with a perfect view of the action
in the sky (and of the rest of the non-ISTAT
visitors trying to catch a glimpse of the
aircraft landing and taking off).
Actually the view from the ISTAT terrace
was even better than from the professional press photographers' enclosure. As
in 2013, the organizers gleefully parked a
big fire engine right in front of the area
from which the pros are supposed to take

12. Paris city limits? No, the Marne Saulnier "Paris" aircraft.
13. Geared turbofan engine with visible high bypass ratio.

their pictures. In addition, a few of the
local gendarmes completely ignored the
complaints from the professional photographers by standing right in front of
the press area, using their iPhones to
take pictures for family and friends and
blocking the view for the pro's 600mm
lenses (photographical evidence can be
supplied). At the risk of being arrested
next time in France, wouldn't it be a good
idea to allow the press an unobstructed
view of the runway in two years and ask
the "friendly" police officers to take
their pictures somewhere else? Speaking
of the police, on Monday morning French
President Francois Hollande paid a visit
to Le Bourget to enjoy a mini private air
show, including demo flights by the A350
and the Patrouille de France. For obvious
reasons, security was very tight that morning, and we had a perfect view from the
ISTAT Chalet of a few masked secret service

snipers on top of the building next to the
ISTAT Chalet. While clearly something that
can't be avoided these days, it was a bit of
a scary sight on the first morning of an air
show. For the rest of Monday, the weather
remained overcast albeit the temperature
was very pleasant.
Tuesday and Wednesday proved to be
better days for watching airplanes as Paris
showed visitors its sunny side. The flight
display for the trade days didn't include
many commercial aircraft types, but what
it may have lacked in quantity was more
than compensated in quality. Airbus flew its
own factory liveried A380-800 "F-WWOW"
plus the A350-900 prototype in carbon
fiber livery, "F-WWCF." The type that was
missed most was the A320neo. While
this re-engined aircraft has been in test
flights for several months, technical problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines following a bird strike grounded the powered
Jetrader * Autumn 2015 19

Jetrader - Autumn 2015

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