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Photo: Vladimir Korolkov, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The airshow is held in Farnborough Airport for one week every two years. Public days are the last weekend only, although there are many locations around town to watch the displays all week. Local pubs' beer gardens, such as The Swan and The Alexandra are good places to try, as are parks such as Cove Green and Southwood Pavilion. On-site, static exhibits cover civilian and military aircraft, as well as innovation in technology and scientific discovery. The afternoon's 5 hour flying display of modern and heritage aircraft is of course the main attraction, climaxing in the stunning RAF display team the "Red Arrows". You can also visit town during the so-called "validation week", which normally lasts a week to ten days before the show officially opens, although flying display times are unpredictable and often repetitive.
The Farnborough International Airshow is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Since its first show in 1948, Farnborough has seen the debut of many famous aeroplanes, including the Vickers VC10, Concorde, the Eurofighter, the Airbus A380, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. At the 1958 show, Hawker Hunters of the RAF's Black Arrows executed a 22-aircraft formation loop, setting a new world record.
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A sculpture of Whittle's Gloster Meteor, a pioneering jet aircraft created at the RAE. See the original plane in London's Science Museum.
Grade II-listed centrifuge which was operated by the RAF for medical research into the effects of g-force on the human body from 1955 to 2019. The 2-hour tour is led by a retired research scientist and test subject, who explains in detail the purpose of the research, some of their findings, and their first-hand experiences, with the visual help of the facility's equipment and archive footage.
of greenspace linked together in 2019. The easternmost part, known as Rafborough Marshes, is mixed wetland and woodland at the source of Cove Brook. Straddling Ively Road is a former golf course which has been converted into parkland. West of this area is the deciduous Southwood Woodland, mostly of birch and oak, but with some clearings where heather prospers. The whole park has a multitude of wildlife, including deer, badgers, nationally-rare insects, reptiles and amphibians.
Teamsport Farnborough
Race electric karts at up to 65 km/h along an 800-m indoor track on two levels.
Offers activities such as indoor and outdoor climbing walls, an archery range, rifle shooting, orienteering, caving, and with the benefit of being next to the Basingstoke Canal, watersports such as kayaking, canoeing and raft-building. For groups, there is permanent indoor accommodation and an extensive area for camping.
The now rather mundane site of Samuel Cody's first flight is marked by a stone and plaque. You can still look across the airfield from here and admire Cody's legacy.