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Cannes Air Show 2011 Preview

Now in its fifth edition, the French business and general aviation show switches its name from Eur-Avia to the heritage Cannes Air Show. It will run from June 9-11, 2011 and will be staged at Cannes/Mandelieu airport (CEQ/LFMD), confirming itself as Southern Europe’s leading exhibition in general and business aviation. In addition to the new aircraft in the static display area, a large number of second-hand aircraft will be offered for immediate sale.
To highlight the 2011 Cannes Air Show exhibition, Jacques Callies and Gilles Khaïat will attempt to set a new aviation record: New York-Cannes in less than 24 hours, flying a Mooney Ovation2 GX without additional fuel tanks. Departure is scheduled from Bridgeport (New York), on Wednesday, June 8th at 05:00 am, with (considering the least favorable scenario), a stop in Greenland, for an arrival prior to the Cannes Air Show opening at 10:00 am on Thursday June 9th.
The Mooney Ovation2 GX is a modern and powerful (280 HP) single-engined aircraft fitted with de-icing and oxygen systems, two essential sets of equipment for flights over Greenland where icing conditions are likely. With favorable winds, two stops will be sufficient, one at Goose Bay (Canada) and one in Reykjavik (Iceland). The Atlantic crossing should then be possible in less than 24 hours. A true performance! Jacques Callies, pilot, editor of the Aviation & Pilote Magazine and Gilles Khaïat, attorney at law in Paris, are not facing their first challenge with a Mooney aircraft. They already set a world record last year, during the Cannes Air Show (Eur-Avia 2010) exhibition, departing from Cannes this time, to Tel Aviv, non-stop in 9 hours and 58 minutes with a Mooney M-20J aircraft.
LISA Airplanes, a French company based at Aix-Chambery airport (Savoie), will reveal the final version of its innovative Akoya for the first time at Cannes Air Show 2011. Thanks to multi-functional retractable landing gear and pivoting wings, this sleek two-seat single engine aircraft is able to operate from ground, water and snow, maintaining good flying performance.
The first prototype flew in 2007 and the first series aircraft started certification flight testing in 2010, including conventional runway landings and water landings at the nearby Lac du Bourget, under the supervision of DGAC, the French Aviation Authority. LISA Airplanes, established in 2004 by Erick Herzberger and Luc Bernole, announced their plans to deliver the first Akoya series aircraft at the end of 2011.
Also at the Cannes Air Show 2011, Daher-SOCATA will celebrate a centenary of continuous aircraft production since the founding of its ancestor company, Aeroplanes Morane-Saulnier. Rheinland Air Service of Germany - the exclusive Daher-SOCATA dealer for Germany and Austria - will join the French manufacurer at Cannes, displaying their “special edition” TBM 850 for the 100th anniversary. This TBM 850 single turboprop business aircraft (D-FRAS, c/n 569) wears a special anniversary “Waves of Time” paint scheme, commemorative “Morane-Saulnier plaque”, Garmin G1000 glass cockpit and the quiet and high-performance MT 5-bladed propellers. Just 24 “special edition” TBM 850s will be manufactured.
In 2008, Grob Aerospace of Germany went bankrupcy, thus the certification programme of their new SPn light business twinjet was suspended. Now Daher-SOCATA is evaluating two prototype SPn aircraft and might soon announce plans to revive the promising twinjet, placing the seven-seat all-composite aircraft at the top of their product inventory.
Beside the already quoted manufacturers, the following companies confirmed their participation in Cannes Air Show 2011: Aerospool, Aquila, AVIAT, Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna, Cirrus, Corvus, Embraer, Flight Design, GippsAero, Helicopteres Guimbal, JMB Aviation, Mooney, OMA Sud Sky Technologies, Phoenix Aircraft, Piaggio Aero Industries, Pilatus, Piper, Pipistrel, Robinson, RUAG Aerospace, Shark Aircraft, Pro.Mecc Sparviero, Stemme and Tecnam.







In the picture: The latest version of the mythical Bonanza and some aircraft exhibited at the 2010 Eur-Avia air show. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, May 2011)