New Aircraft On Display At The Paris Air Show

Making its Paris flying-display debut, the Airbus A321neo entered airline service on the eve of the show. Virgin America took delivery of the first aircraft in April. The largest member of Airbus’s reengined A320neo family, the A321neo made its first flight in February 2016.

The second and largest member of the Airbus A350 XWB family, the A350-1000 is making its Paris debut. The aircraft entered flight testing in November 2016, and the first delivery to Qatar Airways is planned by year-end. The A350 is powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB.

Having made its first flight on the eve of the last show, in June 2015, Airbus Helicopters’ H160 medium twin is debuting at Paris. Intended to replace the AS365 and H155 Dauphin models, the H160 is powered by new Arrano turboshafts from Safran Helicopter Engines.

To be displayed in the static park, Airbus Helicopters’ VSR700 is a vertical-takeoff-and-landing naval unmanned aircraft being developed with French shipbuilder DCNS and planned to fly by year-end. The UAV is based on Helicopteres Guimbal’s Cabri G2 light piston helicopter.

Making its international debut, the Antonov An-132D is a modernized An-32 light transport, being developed with Saudi Arabia’s Taqnia. Powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprops, the aircraft has Honeywell avionics and other Western systems. The An-132D made its first flight in March, and Taqnia plans to begin production in Saudi Arabia in 2020.

The second member of Boeing’s reengined MAX family for flight, the 737-9 took to the skies in April and is making its public debut at Paris. Boeing began deliveries of the first MAX, the 737-8, in May and is expected to launch the biggest member of the CFM Leap-1B-powered family, the 737-10, during the show. Deliveries of 737-9 are set to begin in 2018.

The 787-10, which is making its international show debut at Paris, has the distinction of being the first Boeing airliner to make its maiden flight outside of the Seattle area, taking to the air from the company's Charleston, South Carolina, plant in March. The -10 is the largest member of the 787 family, and deliveries are planned to begin next year. The display aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TENs.

Cirrus Aircraft’s SF50 Vision is being displayed at Paris by French importer Aerolithe, after the single-engine personal jet made an international debut in May at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE 2017) in Geneva, where it received European certification. Deliveries began at the end of 2016 after the Williams FJ33-powered aircraft received FAA certification in October.

Making its first Paris appearance, in the static display, Diamond’s DART 450 is a tandem-seat turboprop trainer aimed at commercial and military markets. Powered by a Ukrainian Motor Sich AI-250S turboprop, the all-composite aircraft made its first flight in May 2016 and its first international appearance at last year’s Farnborough Airshow.

For the second year in a row, Embraer will debut a new airliner at an international air show, with the E195-E2 planned for the flying display at Paris. The largest member of the second-generation E-Jet E2 family made its first flight in March. The first family member, the E190-E2, debuted at Farnborough in 2016. Pratt & Whitney’s PW1900G geared turbofan powers the E190/195-E2.

Making its Paris debut, Embraer’s KC-390 is scheduled to participate in the flying display at Paris after making an international debut on static display at Farnborough in 2016. Development of the military tanker/transport is progressing, with certification and initial operational capability with the Brazilian Air Force planned by the end of 2017.

Japan’s Kawasaki’s P-1 maritime-patrol aircraft is to make its first Paris appearance, and is slated to participate in the flying display. This follows the show debut of the anti-submarine aircraft in 2016 at the UK’s Royal International Air Tattoo. Japan is seeking export customers for the unique design, which is powered by four indigenous IHI F7 turbofans.

L3 Technologies’ OA-8 Longsword, a light-attack/surveillance version of the Air Tractor AT-802 agricultural aircraft, is to be on static display at Paris. Also designated the AT-802L, the two-seat aircraft is capable of staying on station for 5 hr. at 400-nm radius. The Longsword carries an L3 Wescam electro-optical sensor and a variety of weaponry.

An aircraft seen at Paris before in various forms, Leonardo’s M-345 is the latest variant of a two-seat turbofan basic trainer that began life as the SIAI Marchetti S.211. Reengined with a Williams FJ44-4M and refitted with a glass cockpit, embedded training system and other changes, the M-345 first flew in December 2016 and will replace Italian Air Force MB339s.

Originally not planned to appear at Paris, the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter will now perform aerial displays, with a U.S. Air Force F-35A flown by a company pilot. This follows the F-35A flyby from the USAF Heritage Flight Team, and flight-and-hover displays by the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B, in the UK in 2016, at the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough Airshow.

The LM-100J commercial freighter version of Lockheed Martin’s C-130J-30 Hercules airlifter is set to make its international debut in the static park at Paris after making its first flight in May. The original LM-100 commercial Hercules was last produced in 1982. The LM-100J is scheduled for FAA certification and delivery to the unidentified launch customer in 2018.

Mitsubishi’s MRJ regional jet will be making its international debut at Paris, 10 years after the concept was unveiled at the show. The initial MRJ90 version has been in flight testing in Japan and the U.S. since November 2015, but a series of program delays has pushed back first deliveries of the Pratt & Whitney PW1200-powered aircraft to mid-2020, to launch customer All Nippon Airways.

Making its international debut at Paris, where it will take part in the flying display, TAI’s Hurkus-A turboprop trainer received European certification in 2016. TAI is now developing the Hurkus-B advanced-trainer and Hurkus-C light-attack variants for delivery to the Turkish armed forces.