FIDAE 2012 day by day…

After two years in waiting and several weeks speculating and scanning the web, the media and our industry contacts for exhibition forecasts and projections, the XVII International Air & Space Fair (FIDAE 2012) finally saw fruition. Thanks to our advanced team of correspondents operating locally, we started covering the event long before authorities arrived for the speech-making and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday 27. This is expected to be our first report on the show and is not intended to act as complete nor detailed coverage. Rather, it is only a quick log completed on a daily basis with the most relevant observations made on the flight lines, static areas, booths and conference centre.

Friday 23 March (Day – 4)

Accreditation day for Gaceta Aeronáutica was a good opportunity to visit the fair ground and check the earliest exhibitions and exhibitors already in the facility. Home owner, the Chilean Air Force (FACH) was lining up four F-16 Fighting Falcons (two F-16Cs and two F-16AMs, including one from the latest batch acquired from the Netherlands), a glass-cockpit Hercules, a Pillán, a Super Tucano and one of their KC-135 Stratotankers. Several other aircraft were dispersed throughout the airfield but were expected to show up in the Northern tarmac in the following days. Other Chilean military and security services were also already present: The complete Army (ECH) Aviation pack arrived during the day, Navy (ACH) and Carbineer (CCH) aviation made their first (or only!) landings and Investigations Police (PDI) was practicing its Ecureuil anti-crime exhibition routine. “Legacy corners” were also populated by several out-of-service FACH types.

Foreign participation was still timid. The huge (by contemporary military show standards!) Brazilian Air Force (FAB) contingent was represented only by a white VC-99B barely perceptible on the flight line. Korea had its two T-50 Golden Eagles on site, Bell Helicopter had already deployed the 407AH and 429 demonstrators and Israel Aircraft Industries had one of its large Heron UAVs in a static display area by then largely populated by containers, cranes, tools and fences. Controlled chaos reigned inside the roofed pavilions as contractors worked frantically to complete booths and exhibitions in time for opening day. A few of them were nonetheless showing an interesting degree of progress: Lockheed Martin’s showed huge images of their FIDAE 2012 campaign promoting the F-16, C-130, P-3 and (Korean) T-50 lines of products, Boeing’s had their F/A-18 Super Hornet simulator undergoing assembly and LAN’s had their interactive stand also well advanced.

Saturday 24 March (Day – 3)

Even though the weekend settled in, construction work continued unabated in many areas of the fair ground. The most relevant flying activity was that of the Airbus A380 arriving for the show in mid-afternoon, an event duly exploited by the Pan-European consortium to get a promotional and media lead over its North American counterpart, Boeing, whose flagship was to arrive only on Monday 26. The static display area, transformed into an improvised aircraft and helicopter “parking lot”, showed additional arrivals, including two Argentine Air Force (FAA) IA-63 Pampas, a Chilean Navy AS-365 Dauphin and a trio of civil Eurocopter products. In addition to adding those items to the table at the end of this post, we (temporarily) added a large number of “pending arrivals” extracted from FIDAE’s official list of aircraft, discovered in our daily visit to the site. Summarizing, 42 aircraft were confirmed at the fair ground and the projected total surpassed 100 units. Not bad at all!

Sunday 25 March (Day – 2)

Religious day notwithstanding, Santiago de Chile’s main airport was hyperactive with flying activities throughout the day, with the military nearly coping the entire agenda. Noteworthy arrivals included most of the Brazilian Air Force contingent (2 Mirage 2000, 7 Tucanoes, one EMB-145 AEW&C and one of two supporting Herks), the surprise USAF “on a diet” delegation (2 Texas Air National Guard F-16s and their accompanying KC-10) and the “special mission” demonstrator of the Raytheon Beech King Air family, the 350ER. The day was also ideal for a sample taste and preview of what the air display would show, as the T-50 Golden Eagle, the IA-63 Pampa II, the Bell 407AH and the entire FAB Fumaça team got familiar with the environment and practiced their in-flight routines. The civil side was rather dull during the day, with only a couple executive aircraft arriving into the airport. Embraer and their local representative Aerocardal, however, were actively flying the Phenom 100 demonstrator in and out of Pudahuel, ostensibly showing the product to potential Chilean customers. Summing up, our forecast for aircraft to be seen increased to little over 110 aircraft; while confirmed arrivals totalled 59.

Monday 26 March (Press Day)

As the city woke-up to a hazy post-quake Monday, things got pretty hectic around Pudahuel. Two of the main show stars, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and the Airbus A400M, arrived mid-morning and shortly after lunch (respectively) and were treated to the customary water canon baptism before entering show premises. A large collection of civil aircraft (jets, turboprops, piston lights and helicopters) also made it into the airfield throughout the day and begun filling the static display area, which at the end of the day started to look like as specified in show opening day plans. Flight display training sessions included the first FACH Halcones team appearance (operating from/to El Bosque air base), spirited exhibitions by Bell 407AH and AS-350 Ecureuil helicopter demonstrators as well as two more IA-63 Pampa II exhibitions and one for the mammoth Airbus A380. As the fair closed its gates a 5pm, our projected number of participating aircraft had increased to over 115, with 94 of them already in place.

Tuesday 27 March (Opening Day)

Presided over by Chilean Minister of Defense, Andrés Allamand, the fair was finally dedicated mid-morning on Tuesday 27. After the speeches, ribbon-cutting plus aircraft and pavilion tours by local and foreign authorities, the show got on in earnest. Professionals crowded the convention centre for a number of airport infrastructure, space and defence logistics conferences. And media sped through press conferences, pavilion dedications and other promotional events organised by exhibitors throughout the fair ground; including Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 presentations and tours to the aircraft. Flying displays included Bombardier’s Learjet 45XR and Challenger 300, FACH’s F-16AM, F-16C and Blue Berets paratroops (DHC-6 Twin Otter) and FAB’s Fumaça (EMB-312 Tucano), Alenia’s C-27J Spartan, Bell’s 407AH and 429, AgSur/Air Tractor’s AT-802F, FAdeA’s IA-63 Pampa II, Airbus’ A380 and KAI’s T-50 Golden Eagle. Naturally, FACH’s Halcones team also featured a fly-by at the end of the opening ceremony. Recorded in the table below, 115 aircraft had been logged at the fair as the day drew to a close, with most of the industry novelty items confirming their attendance. A further 10 were to be logged in subsequent days if FACH, Santiago de Chile Flying Club and a couple general aviation firms materialised other aircraft on the fair’s official list.

Wednesday 28 March (Professional Day #1)

The first full professional day was a day of contrasts. On the up side, air and space professionals and specialised media transited through the convention centre fulfilling yet another hectic conferences and press events agenda. These included the opening of IATA’s seventh “Wings of Change” summit and an array of press conferences from several North American, Russian, Brazilian and Argentine firms (see complete list in FIDAE 2012 “on short final”!). The in-flight exhibition roster was also crowded by Halcones, Fumaça and Blue Berets, Bell 407AH and 429, A380, Challenger, Spartan, Golden Eagle, Pampa II, Fighting Falcon, Air Tractor and PDI AS-350 Ecureuil demonstrations. In addition, Bombardier’s Q400 NextGen regional transport performed probably the first of only two media flights provided by exhibiting companies, while Boeing and LAN failed to launch a more exclusive Dreamliner customer flight due to a “parking situation” quizzically commented by local press. On the down side, only two new aircraft arrivals were logged during the day, that of a supporting Uruguayan Herk and the freshly re-allocated FACH S-70 Blackhawk, now flying with the volcano eagles of Grupo de Aviación No.5 (in striking black and white markings!). Furthermore, several aircraft in the static display area started departing the show, with Airbus’ A400M “Grizzly 2” doing so by midday. All things said, the overall quantity of aircraft noted at the show increased to 117, with a further 9 in the official list still expected to arrive.

Thursday 29 March (Professional Day #2)

Professional and media activity started loosing intensity on the fair’s third running day. Congresses and presentations to media advanced their agendas at the convention centre, although generating a lower level of traffic and action when compared to previous days. The air display schedule, on the contrary, remained as active as in preceding days, with Halcones, Fumaça, Blue Berets, Bell 407AH and 429, Airbus A380, Challenger, Spartan, Golden Eagle, Pampa II, Fighting Falcon, Air Tractor and Ecureuil taking to the air throughout the day. Bombardier repeated their Wednesday media flight on board the Q400 NextGen (Gaceta Aeronáutica got one seat on board!), while Boeing and LAN managed to take off on their previously-failed Dreamliner VVIP flight. As the exodus of opening day aircraft continued, a number of local replacements showed up and started adapting the show’s static landscape to the one the general public would see during the weekend. Welcome additions landing in Pudahuel comprised a Grupo 1 A-36 Halcón as well as the last KC-135 Stratotanker (s/n 982, fitted with a hose-and-probe adapter) dragging a Grupo 12 F-5E Tigre III alongside. A Mexican Air Force Boeing 737-300 was also an interesting (yet temporary) addition to the flight line. These changes (and a few corrections to our data base!), brought the total number of aircraft observed to 120 (with 9 more expected to show up later in the week).

Friday 30 March (Professional Day #3)

The closing professional day was marked by the end of the few remaining convention sessions and the continued exodus of both aircraft and personnel. The few remaining executive aircraft on the tarmac departed by the end of the day, while the Airbus A380 did so in mid-morning. While several stands were emptied of exhibitions and vacated by their human occupants, a new sort of visitors settled in as high school and paramilitary academies started transiting the fair ground. Getting ready for the week end public days, additional replacement aircraft (noteworthy among them was the ex-Parragué Catalina) arrived in to fill spaces made available by departing aircraft. Flying displays were more or less the same as previous days, although some of them became more intense and got closer to the public for increased effect. Confirmed exhibitions included Halcones, Fumaça, Blue Berets, Golden Eagle, Pampa II, Fighting Falcon and Ecureuil. The main update to our aircraft register below was deletion of two executive aviation entries in the official list which did not materialise in professional days and were unlikely to show up during the week end.

Saturday 31 March & Sunday 1 April (Public Days)

Beyond the crowds swarming the fair ground and causing huge road traffic jams in and around the airport, the two public days were a fine round-up for yet another successful FIDAE show. There was little in the way of actual news, but the four Santiago Flying Club representatives (long awaited in our previous entries!) were finally confirmed in the static display; while the sole FACH Blackhawk made a surprise appearance sporting a FLIR system under the nose. Confirmed flying exhibitions included Halcones, Fumaça, Blue Berets, Spartan, Golden Eagle, Pampa II, Fighting Falcon and Ecureuil. Unlike previous days, however, all returning display participants would stop by and reward photographers with a prime opportunity to take pictures of them while on their way back into the flight line.

In another FIDAE first, Minister of Defence Allamand returned to the show for closing day both to share with the general public and to talk to the press about another successful edition of FIDAE. Knowing that Allamand is one of several pre-candidates for the 2014 presidential campaign, it remains to be seen if he will repeat the path of yet another FIDAE minister of defence who eventually made it into the presidential palace (Michelle Bachelet attended FIDAE 2002 and 2004 as Minister of Defence and returned as President to FIDAE 2008!). Political speculations aside, Allamand praised the show by describing it as “consolidating [its prestige] as the most important [aviation] fair in this part of the World and in the entire Southern Hemisphere”. Backing his comments, official figures said FIDAE 2012 had sold to 561 exhibitors (a 30% increase over FIDAE 2010) from more than 40 countries (3% increase). Additional figures put the amount of  2012 business deals at US $ 250.000.000 (10% increase), with a further US $ 44.000.000 earned by related tourism, hotel and transport industries giving temporary employment to 9,600 people. Included in the first figure are 15 aircraft sold (as well as 8 reserved) during the fair. Public traffic remained stable at 80,000 visitors during the weekend; while professional traffic raised 25% to 10,000 people per day, compensating for the one-professional day reduction in the show’ schedule.

Participating aircraft

A distinguishing feature in our daily coverage was a detailed log of aircraft noted at the fair (which we updated constantly throughout the show duration with both actual sightings and reliable forecasts). With our last update on Sunday 1 April, the number of aircraft noted reached a grand total of 130. Only a handful of aircraft were missing from the official listings: Two general aviation items (an Aeroservicio Cessna Caravan and an Aviasur Beech Bonanza) plus several FACH missing individuals (mainly a Grupo 5 CitationJet as well as additional units of types already on display at Pudahuel). Notice that, when included, construction numbers, aircraft names and crew names, come from actual observations at the show (not from other external references).

Internet sources: Airport Data, Ámbito Financiero, El Mercurio, F-16 Net, FAB (official), FACH (official), FIDAE (official), Flightaware, Flight International, IFIS Chile, LAAS International, IAI (official) and Scramble. Acknowledgements: Gabriel Luque, Luis Quintana and Diego Rojo contributed to this report.