The Largest Aviation Show in South America

FIDAE, the biggest South American airshow, took place in Santiago in Chile for the eighteenth time in April this year, the inaugural show having been in 1980. For the majority of the audience, the highlight was the arrival of the Airbus 380 and the chance to talk to its pilot Peter Chandler and his co-pilot Ignacio Lombo, and to be shown over the vast machine. For those more interested in helicopters, there was also a feast, with good input from Sikorsky, Agusta, Eurocopter and Bell, and a wide selection of military helicopters from the local police and military forces.

The increased use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) was clear from the number of them on show, including the Predator, which is now used by the US military, the Israeli Elbit Systems Skylark 1, used by the French Special Forces, and the Schiebel Camcopter S-100, a helicopter UAV created by the Austrians...