International aircraft buyers and aviation enthusiasts saw the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's "Airbus" at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airfield on Saturday (5 June). But while Paris greeted it with enthusiasm, the United States Senate Banking Committee prepared to begin hearings on the future of the L-1011 TriStar.

The hearings, which start on Monday (7 June), will debate whether to approve President Nixon's plan to guarantee a 100 million pound (sterling) bank loan to the markers of the TriStar to enable them to carry on with production. If the guarantee plan collapses, both the United States and Britain -- whose nationalised Rolls Royce Company make the RB 211 engine to pair the aircraft -- may have to take prompt action, as one official at the Paris Air Show said, "to reshape their attitudes towards technology."
As usual at the Paris Air Show, the United States occupied one of the largest display areas. The Soviet Union also made a big effort at this year's show to become accepted as a manufacturer of commercial aircraft; among their exhibits was the enormous Mil V-12 heavy logistics helicopter capable, according to its manufacturers, of lifting a load of over 40 tons to a height of 7,000 feet.

SYNOPSIS: The Paris Air Show still drew the crowds on Saturday after running for two weeks. Aircraft buyers and enthusiasts were treated to a demonstration flight of the world's largest military cargo aircraft, the United States Galaxy.

The Soviet Union, making a big effort to become accepted as a manufacturer of commercial aircraft, displayed their enormous Mil V-12 heavy logistics helicopter....the markers claim it can lift a load of over 40 tons to a high of seven thousand feet.

Britain's demonstration of the day included a flight of these Harrier Jump-Jets, already widely acclaimed as one of the world's most versatile fighter aircraft.

This year's Air Show has made history in many ways. The Soviet Union's supersonic airliner was shown there for the first time, and many foreign aircraft buyers have negotiated the most lucrative contracts in the history of aviation. The Paris Air Show is internationally the best, bringing foreign aviation products for competition and comparison.

The most interesting display on Saturday was the United States' airbus, the Lockheed TriStar. While the aircraft was going through its paces in Paris, the Senate Banking Committee was preparing to debate a one hundred million pound loan to the manufactures of the TriStar. Britain's recently nationalised Rolls Royce company -- the makers of the TriStar's engines -- hangs in the balance over the hearings, and while Paris greeted the TriStar with enthusiasm, its representatives were pessimistic about its chances.