Charles De Gaule Airport

Pilots show off planes' capabilities

PARIS — Mike Rambo is a demonstration pilot for Hawker Beechcraft's T-6 trainer program. But once a week he's out at the El Dorado airport practicing aerobatics maneuvers.

Here at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris, Rambo performs those same maneuvers for a much larger audience. He's been demonstrating them daily to the thousands who gather to watch the afternoon entertainment.

Each afternoon, some of the more than 140 aircraft in the static display carry out flying demonstrations.

Rambo taxis out the company's AT-6 turboprop and takes to the skies, performing barrel rolls, Cuban 8s, aileron rolls, inverted flight and other maneuvers.

His AT-6 shares the show with an Airbus A380; Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and 747-8; Dassault Rafale's Eurocopter X3; the Lockheed Super Constellation; an F-16 and others.

The flying demonstrations let exhibitors show off their aircraft's technological expertise.

Performing at the Paris Air Show is challenging, Rambo said.

Each pilot gets six minutes to perform. The clock starts ticking when the plane begins to roll out onto the runway and stops when the wheels turn off the runway.

That keeps the air show schedule on time.

Its proximity to busy Charles de Gaulle airport make the airspace congested. "There's no margin for error," Rambo said. "You're not allowed to go into Charles de Gaulle airspace."

The challenges add another level of excitement to performing, he said.

"Any pilot who does this (aerobatics) thrives on excitement," Rambo said.

Roger Hubble reaches down to a round hatch on the floor of a special mission-configured King Air and unlatches it.

Underneath, a large round hole reveals the pavement underneath. That feature can save a life, said Hubble, a Hawker Beechcraft special mission project manager. Through the hole, rescue workers can get a lifeboat down to someone in trouble in the water.

Specially equipped bubble windows allow rescue, border patrol workers or others have a view of the ground or water underneath to help in rescue or surveillance work.

The plane is also equipped with cameras that help with searches, including infrared cameras.

The camera can help find someone in the blackness of night using through the changes in temperatures of a person's body. Other devices allow pilots to preset a determined area to be searched and helps the pilots stay on course.

What to do in the Charles De Gaulle airport | Europe Forum ...

If you're [un]lucky enough to be spending your time at Terminal 1, you can marvel at the preposterous 1970s architectural "style" that includes circular airplane outposts, moving walkways that take you up, down, and across, oceans of concrete, windows that never are (or were) clean, and an almost total absence of space for travelers to move themselves and their luggage.

They have some computer terminals you can rent by the hour, which I was glad to find, I have no idea why more airports don't do that. I don't travel with a laptop so it is a good way to pass time if you are there for hours. It's a little expensive, but not that bad as a way to pass time (I forget the fee, but I think it may have amounted to around 5 euro per hour). I couldn't tell you which terminal I found that in, but it was in the departures area where you wait for your flight to leave.

Your replies are wonderful, and thank you. I actually have a hotel to go to right after I get there, but thought since I would be leaving to go elsewhere the next day, I'd look at the gift shops and maybe get some good food. I like the idea someone had about going to a nice hotel and sit in a comfy chair. So guess I'll get out of the airport asap and head to the hotel. Thanks everyone.

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