This rare film shows activities at the Farnborough Air Show in 1949, beginning with rare footage of the Cierva Air Horse helicopter. The largest helicopter in the world at the time of its debut, the Air Horse was unusual for using three rotors mounted on outriggers, and driven by a single engine mounted inside the fuselage. Also seen are the Black Arrows (the forerunners of the Red Arrows) as they demonstrate the very meaning of precision during their giant aerobatics display. Aircraft shown include: Aiglet, Alpha, Apollo, Argosy, Avro 707, Avro 7078, Avro Ashton, Avro CF-100, B-1 Canberra, Beverly, Blackburn NA-39, Blackburn YB-1, Brabazon, Bristol 173, Bristol 192, Comet, Dart Herald, Delta-2, DH-110, DH-112 Venom, DH-113 Vampire, Gloster Meteor, Gnat, Gyrodyne Convertiplane, Hawker P-1052, Hawker P-1081, Herald, Handley Paige Hermes V, Heron, Hunter, Javelin, Jet Provost, Lightning, Marathon, Pioneer II, President, Princess, Rotodyne VTOL, Saunders Roe P-531, Scimitar, Sea Hawk, Seamew, Shackleton, Short SB-3, Short SC-1, Short Solent, Short SP-5, Skeeter, Supermarine 510, Swift, Universal, Valiant, Vanguard, Venom, Vickers 355, Victor, Vickers Viscount, Vulcan, W-10 Airhorse, Wessex, Westminster, Wyvern TF-2.
One of the more interesting aircraft seen in the show is the Bristol Type 167 Brabazon (seen at the 9 minute mark) a large propeller-driven airliner, designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, to fly transatlantic routes between the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite its size, roughly between an Airbus A300 and a Boeing 767, it was designed to carry only 100 passengers, each one granted room about the size of the entire interior of a small car.
The prototype was completed and flown in 1949, only to prove a commercial failure when airlines felt the airliner was too large and expensive to be useful. In the end, only the single prototype was flown; it was broken up in 1953 for scrap, along with the uncompleted turboprop-powered Brabazon I Mk.II.
The Farnborough International Airshow is a week-long event that combines a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with a public airshow. The event is held in mid-July in even-numbered years at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, England. The first five days (Monday to Friday) are dedicated exclusively to trade, with the final two days open to the public.
The Farnborough Airshow has its origins in the annual RAF Airshow at Hendon from 1920 to 1937. On 27 June 1932, the Society of British Aircraft Constructors held an exhibition of 35 aircraft by 16 companies at Hendon as a showpiece for the British aircraft industry. After World War II, the show recommenced at Radlett (the site of Handley Page’s airfield) in 1946 and was held there until 1948, when the show moved to its present location of Farnborough, Hampshire, home of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, about 30 miles (48 km) south-west of central London.
Initially an annual event, the show has been biennial since 1962. It has become an international event that attracts exhibitors from all over the world — with the exception, during the Cold War, of countries behind the Iron Curtain.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
