SBAC Farnborough: A History

摘要

The idea is a good one - the story of SBAC airshows, starting with Hendon (1932-35), Hatfield (1936-37) and Radlett (1946-47) but concentrating on those held at Farnborough from 1948. Each event is reviewed, with the major developments, notable newcomers and the most memorable display routines detailed and commented upon. This is not the definitive account of Farnborough shows over the years but nor, I suspect, was it ever intended to be. For that John Blake and Mike Hooks' '40 Years at Farnborough' (Haynes, 1990) remains the bible, although this new book does bring the story up to 2008. There is a good selection of photographs, all in black-and-white and passably reproduced, although few were taken at Farnborough. Many are identifiably from shows at le Bourget, Fairford and Zhukovsky, while others are simply 'nice' air-to-airs. For a book with 'Farnborough' in the title, the reader might reasonably expect the majority to have been shot there. Some captions raise an eyebrow. One example is the photo on page 149 of an F-117A which reads, "Despite its futuristic appearance and stealth qualities, under its skin, the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawkwas basically an F/A-18; the Nighthawk used many Hornet components".