| AirShows | ||
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About Airshows | The ones I've been to |
| About Airshows | Targu Mures 1999 | |
| Why do I go to airshows | RoIAS 2001 Constanta | |
| Missed ones | Ziua Marinei 2002 | |
| Incoming airshows | Iasi 2002 | |
| Back to Sorin Aircraft Web Site 5.5 | Targu Mures I 2004 | |
| External links | Cluj-Napoca 2005 | |
| Incoming: RoIAS 2006 Constanta | ||
What are Airshows ?
Airshows are public display of aircraft and other flight-related materials and activities. Tipically, in an airshow, there would be two different displays, and two different types of activities.
There is a static display, where planes, helicopters, missiles and aviation equipment is displayed on the ground, for people to see and photograph, and there also is a flight display, in which airplanes and helicopters get to fly. Flight displays sometimes feature parachutists launches and war simulations (world war two aircraft dropping smoke-bombs and simulating air-to-air combat, to re-enact past combat operations).
The other reason for which airshows take place, and I hate to admit - actually the main one, is business.
People, governments, big companies, small companies, they all meet at airshows in order to discuss and sign contracts. This part of an airshow has become so important in today's world, that in a large airshow, contracts worth multi-billion dollars are signed.
Some Governments send their representatives and defense ministers to important airshows in order to see, both in static as well as in flight display, aircraft that they might want to buy. For example, if Switzerland would want to purchase new jet fighters, the Swiss defence minister would go to the Paris Air Show, would talk there with the representatives of all the big fighter jet manufacturers (McDonnel-Douglas-Boeing, BAe-Saab, D'Assault, etc), would see many fighters on the ground, and would watch them fly too (F-15, F-18, F-16, Mirage-2000, JAS-39, etc). A single contract, worth billions and billions of dollars, signed during such an airshow, is reason enough for the airshow to ensure its next edition. Meaning there will be enough money "flying around" ;) for the organizers to pay and find sponsors for the organization of the next airshow.
Smaller companies are also present at airshows. Whether they produce missiles, radars, digital equipment for the cockpit, landing gears, software for the flight computers, helmets and even the paint on the aircraft, trying to sign contracts as well.
Airshows, the big ones usually having around 300,000 visitors per day, and lasting two days, are not only a mean to entertain the public, but also a new way of doing business, and a way for countries to proudly display their latest military hardware, in order to impress the public, as well as... other countries ;)
Why do I go to airshows, instead of staying home?
As I said in my index page as well, I am a huge fan of everything that flies. It is one of my hobbies.Other people have hobbies as well, some of which might seem even more weird to the reader than my aviation hobby. Here's an example.
| Trainspotting |
| In UK, there is a large group of people who practice a "sport" called "Trainspotting". They walk on foot for miles and miles across railways and sit there for hours, simply to see a train pass. And why do they do that? Because they note down the serial number of the train and the exact time it passed thru that area, and communicate it to others. Now why would anybody do that ? Well, to tell you the truth, it kinda beats me too, but what I want to emphase here is that trainspotters, as they are called, are very proud of their hobby, and very, very dedicated to it. They seem to find the eternal happyness in endless lists of trains and timetables, and they are extremely exciting when spotting a train passing-by. |
As I said before, many people have hobbies, and there is a wide variety of hobbies, too. Our hobby, as aviators, is related to flying. We like to talk for hours about which plane is better, about equipment related to aviation, missiles, engines, helmets, radars, pilots and their training, real wars and real missions, exercises, old aircraft, new aircraft.... An endless array of things... It is simply our passion, the thing that drives us in this life.
In the end, I assume the idea is you either understand it, or not. And my guess, since you're reading these lines, is that you're trying to understand us, are curious about us, or indeed, are one of us!
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I n c o m i n g A i r s h o w s |
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15 June 2006 29-30 July 2006 |
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Airclub Yearly Airshow - Cluj-Napoca RoIAS 2006 - Constanta |
E x t e r n a l L i n k s |
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Official Airshow sites |
Official Airshow sites |
| Farnborough Air Show | Royal International Air Tattoo |
| Paris Air Show (Le Bourget) | RoIAS (Romanian International Air Show) |
| Timisoara 2000 | Zeltweg Air Power 2005 |
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See you at the next show!! If you will come to Romania for the next airshow, e-mail me, maybe we could meet.
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 hits since the 15th of June 2003 for this page alone
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