With four months to go to before the show opens, we though it wise to start constructing a preview of what attendees, visitors and the general public will witness in Pudahuel next year. The 17th edition of the International Air & Space Fair (Feria Internacional del Aire y el Espacio, or FIDAE 2012) opens on Tuesday 27 March 2012 and news are already starting to flow about its envisaged contents.
Chile has just celebrated the 200th anniversary of its first government out of Spanish colonial rule and its armed forces played a key role in “nation-long” ceremonies. While Army and Navy hosted the main “Fiestas Patrias” (patriotic festivities), military (mainly Air Force) flying elements captured a fair share of the show in the capital and elsewhere.
Coinciding with the exhibition of a C-17A Globemaster III in Chile’s air and space fair in March 2010, Boeing was reported as talking to prospective customers about the creation of a South American consortium to operate the type following a “time-sharing” scheme already developed by several NATO air forces. Aeromilitaria Argentina has been following the story and got exclusive comments on the subject from Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
Northern Chile’s crystal clear skies, low population density and limited air traffic provide an ideal background for dissimilar air combat training. Late in 2009, the South American nation was host to the second edition of a a large-scale, multi-national exercise gathering combat aircraft and crews from four American and one European air forces. Masked as a peace-restoring exercise, Salitre II was a golden opportunity to see American Eagles, Chilean Fighting Falcons and Tigers, Argentine Fighting Hawks, Brazilian Falcons and French Mirages practice the fine art and science of modern air combat. Gaceta Aeronáutica was there to illustrate and report.
Little over a month after the show closed its doors, we deliver the first recapitulation of our correspondents to the XV Feria Internacional del Aire y el Espacio (15th Air & Space Fair, or FIDAE 2008), held for the second time at “Arturo Merino Benítez” International Airport in Santiago de Chile. Read on to access our conclusions about the main aircraft exhibits, browse some of the most representative photos taken at the show and inspect our register of aircraft logged during the fair.
