History
The Farnborough Airshow has its origins in the annual RAF Airshow at Hendon from 1920 to 1937. On 27 June 1932, the Society of British Aircraft Constructors held an exhibition of 35 aircraft by 16 companies at Hendon as the show-piece for the British aircraft industry. With a break for World War II, the show recommenced at Radlett (the site of Handley Page's airfield) in 1946 and was held there until 1948, when the show moved to its present location of Farnborough, Hampshire, home of the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Hampshire, about 30 miles (48 km) south-west of central London. The headquarters of the UK's principal aerospace firm, BAE Systems, is also in Farnborough.
At the 1958 show, the Black Arrows executed a 22-plane formation loop This was a world record for the greatest number of aircraft looped in formation, and remains unbroken to this day.
Initially an annual event, Farnborough changed in 1962 to its present biennial format. It also expanded from a British event to an international one that welcomed exhibitors from all over the world — with the exception, during the Cold War, of countries behind the Iron Curtain.
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