If you like airplanes, you’ll love Boeing’s teaser video for the Paris Air Show, which puts a 787-10 Dreamliner and a 737 MAX 9 jet through a series of moves worthy of a ballet.
The video preview has become a tradition for Boeing’s presence at the big show, which plays out next week. In the video, the planes take off at dizzyingly steep angles and fly in close formation with Pacific Northwest peaks serving as a backdrop.
Don’t expect those kinds of aerobatics in Paris – but do expect the 737 MAX 9, which made its first flight in April, to participate in a flying display. (Lockheed Martin’s controversial F-35 fighter jet will also take to the air.)
The 787-10 flight-test plane will be on view in Paris, along with a Qatar Airways 777-300ER, a P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft, Apache and Chinook helicopters and a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
Boeing also is expected to spotlight the 737 MAX 10, a stretch version of the MAX 9, and talk about a yet-to-be-designed breed of jet known as the middle-of-the-market airplane or the new midsize airplane. A lot of folks are already referring to the concept as the 797.
The so-called 797 would be closest in capacity to the 757, which is no longer being made. Earlier this month, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Kevin McAllister said his team is working to figure out how to build a middle-of-the-market plane “in a way that fits the business plan.”
The Paris Air Show is expected to feature a flurry of order announcements, from Boeing as well as from its European rival Airbus. There’ll also be lots of reflection over the uncertain direction of the commercial airplane market.
Washington state is sending over a delegation of more than 50 business leaders and other VIPs, but due to the state budget stalemate, Gov. Jay Inslee has to stay behind. U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, a Democrat whose district includes Boeing’s Everett operation, will lead the delegation in his stead.
Edmonds Community College will showcase the work that’s being done by its aerospace training center at Paine Field in Everett. And there’s at least one more tenuous Seattle connection.
A European consortium known as Neva Aerospace is planning to show off its concept for a heavy-duty electric turbofan aircraft called the AirQuadOne. It’s basically a flying car, designed to carry a single pilot for up to 30 minutes at altitudes of up to 3,000 feet.
Neva is reportedly working with pilots as well as European and U.S. regulators to win certification for the vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.
Although it’s not clear where or when the AirQuadOne will fly, sharp-eyed observers have already noticed that Neva’s concept art has the Seattle skyline in the background:
#Personalaviation comes a big step closer with Neva electric #turbofans and the #AirQuadOne concept https://t.co/mfcO3ZVFgd pic.twitter.com/9n4EUNFVgg
— Neva Aerospace (@nevaaerospace) June 16, 2017
If Neva’s artistic vision becomes a reality, Boeing just might have to watch the skies a little more closely as it choreographs the aerobatics for its 797 in advance of a future Paris Air Show.
To keep up with Boeing’s announcements during this year’s show, keep an eye on the company’s ronline coverage.
Hat tip to Isaac Alexander, a.k.a. @jetcitystar.
