iscover
One aircraft that was definitely not being considered for export was the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, which made a whistlestop visit to Singapore on the first official day of the airshow. The B-2 was undertaking a ‘global reach’ deployment from the Us, demonstrating its ability to reach anywhere in the world in less than a day with the aid of inflight refuelling — a point no doubt noted in Beijing. The B-2 was on the ground for around two hours with the engines running, allowing for a crew change before returning to the Us.
Asian Aerospace 1996 Airshow Report
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Asian Aerospace
Asian aerospace, both the industry and its namesake airshow are booming.
Asia’s much-touted economic boom is not something that western aerospace companies have ignored, and this was reflected in the volume of the exhibitors and the size of their presence at Asian Aerospace, thus giving credibility to the organiser’s claim that the exhibition is now the world’s third major airshow, approaching Farnborough and Paris in size and stature. Talk at Asian Aerospace was dominated by Fokker’s parlous condition and speculation about possible new buyers for the famous Dutch airliner manufacturer. Majority shareholder Daimler-Benz Aerospace announced it was withdrawing financial support for the debt-burdened Fokker, with the result that the manufacturer applied for bankruptcy protection. A Dutch Government bridging loan will allow Fokker to continue to operate until about mid-March, by which time a new buyer would have to be found (refer Stop Press for details).
Meanwhile AI(R) – Aero International Regional, the teaming of Avro, ATR and Jetstream — made its airshow debut. AI(R) had the largest number of aircraft on static display of any manufacturer with a J41, ATR 42-500, Mount Cook ATR 72 and RJ85 on display. The big news from AI(R) is that it is studying the development of a new 70 seat regional jet and a stretched 85 seat development, aircraft which it says would sell particularly well in North America. This project is independent of any AI(R) participation in an Asian 100 seat regional jet programme. The other big regional airliner news was Bombardier’s announcement of the launch order for the 70 seat de Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop from Great China Airlines of Taiwan. Certification is planned for the first quarter of 1999 with deliveries following immediately afterwards.
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