FARN10: A350 and a Spanish inquisition

Set-up day at Farnborough and one of our own lobs a speculation grenade into the Flightglobal chalet. The EADS stand features a full-sized Airbus A350 XWB mock-up with a Spanish flag prominently positioned behind the cockpit window.

There's a pressure wave of half-baked conclusions and outrageously premature headlines, mainly about Iberia long-haul orders, before we decide to sneak a photo for the record.

Sure enough, the A350 is there complete with Bandera de España...

...but what's being concealed?

Nothing is obviously visible through the cloth so I sidle up to the flag and, feigning intense fascination with the coat-of-arms, slide my hand up behind it, feeling around as if there's a front-page scoop written on the fuselage in Braille.

Still nothing. So there's only one option. A glance around suggests the only people around are labourers putting the finishing touches to the stand, so I lift the free corner of the flag and look underneath.

Then I hear a voice. "You like the flag? It's my flag," says one of the workers, in a Mediterranean accent. "The World Cup!"

And with that, the red-hot Spanish A350 scoop flatlines.

"Are you from Holland?" beams the worker. I tell him I'm not. Although I still have to trudge back without the glorious prize.