1927 - The very first SBAC display is held at RAF Hendon in north-west London. Featuring 30 aircraft from 13 constructors, the show also displays engines from
six companies.
1936 - The show moves to de Havilland's aerodrome at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, as it has out-grown Hendon. First appearances included the Fairey Battle, Bristol
Blenheim, Handley Page Hampden, Hawker Hurricane, Westland Lysander, Supermarine Spitfire and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley - all to become household
names a mere three years later with the outbreak of the Second World War.
1938 - Show is cancelled due to the worsening European political situation, particularly the Munich Crisis.
1946 - The first post-Second World War show is held at Handley Page's airfield at Radlett, Hertfordshire. Although a success, the airfield is not considered
adequate for the show as it has a public footpath running through it, inadequate roads and little parking. The show is held at the same venue the following year but
moves to a September date for the first time.
1948 - The SBAC show is held for the first time at the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Farnborough Airfield in Hampshire. It lasts for a week and for the first time
the public is admitted. Crowds witness the Saunders Roe SR.A/1 single-seat jet flyingboat fighter arrive inverted and very low. The aircraft features the first
Martin-Baker ejection seat. The prototype Vickers Viscount airliner, with four Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines, makes its public debut.
1962 - The last of the annual shows - from now on it alternates with the Paris airshow at Le Bourget. The Vickers VC10, de Havilland Trident and Hawker P.1127
VTOL fighter make their first appearances.
1970 - Concorde makes its debut although it is 'unscheduled' as the English summer weather forces a diversion from its base at RAF Fairford.
1972 - The show becomes European.
1974 - Farnborough International is born as the show reflects the changing world with 31 foreign aircraft on display, including the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. The same
maker's SR-71 Blackbird arrives at the show from New York in a record-breaking 1h 55min and 42sec.
1980 - The RAF's aerobatic display team - the Red Arrows - makes its Farnborough debut.
1986 - The world's heaviest aircraft - the Antonov An-124 - dominates the static park while a pair of MiG-29s mark the first appearance of Soviet combat aircraft
in the West.
1990 - A pair of Sukhoi Su-27s perform their spectacular 'cobra' manoeuvre for the first time.
1996 - The Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth bomber flies past after a non-stop flight from the USA.
1998 - The remnants of Hurricane Danielle - which caused damage on the East Coast of the USA - heads across the Atlantic and threatens a wet Farnborough
show. First appearances for the Airbus A300-600ST Beluga; Bombardier Global Express; and the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules an aircraft whose design
history can be traced almost to the time when the first show was being held at Farnborough, half a century ago.
Source: Flight Daily News
