Eleven months ago, a flightglobal.com poll asked which would fly first: the A400M, 787, or pigs. The pigs won.
It may have been in jest, but neither Airbus Military nor Boeing - nor their customers and suppliers - were doing much laughing until both aircraft finally left terra firma in the closing weeks of 2009.
Half a year on, the Dreamliner and the European airlifter are among the stars of a Farnborough air show that takes place at one of these serendipitous points in the industry cycle where we are enjoying a gathering global economic recovery ahead of a second possible dip prompted by a euro crisis and deficit-cutting attacks on defence spending.
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At the same time, key programmes that were in limbo a year or so ago - including the 787, Airbus A380, A400M and Lockheed Martin F-35 - appear to be moving out of danger, while newer types such as the A350 and Bombardier CSeries are still in that flush of youth that comes before the true tests of certification and production ramp-up.
All that should make for a relatively upbeat mood at this year's big industry get-together. We may not see a return - yet - to the feeding frenzy of orders witnessed at Farnborough 2006 and Paris in 2007. But certain programme managers will be more bullish about the state of their projects than for some time.
Source: Flight International
