The Farnborough Airshow has long been used to promote the aerospace and defence industries to young people and their teachers and 2010 was no exception with Futures Day attracting almost 3,000 school pupils.

Despite Futures Day falling on the last day of the academic year, the BLOODHOUND education team and Ambassadors network managed to get the word out to all registered schools and colleges. As well as the BLOODHOUND pavilion there were two other buildings crammed with hands-on activities provided by companies and organisations involved with the industry. The schools ‘Build a Plane’ project was featured alongside the Mars Rover from Astrium, and of course there was plenty of information on how to become a pilot.

Kicking-off the day were presentations from all the major companies including Airbus, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. Andy Green’s insight into the engineering behind BLOODHOUND SSC and what it is like to drive a car faster than the speed of sound attracted two capacity audiences.

Inside the BLOODHOUND SSC pavilion, teachers and their pupils were able to find out more about the project and even have a go at the BLOODHOUND Driving Experience. It was also the start of a hectic three days of constant use of the K’Nex rocket cars where young people, and a few parents, were able to build cars and fire them down the 10m track using compressed air.

All the exhibition halls were open to the young people and many of the host companies took their local schools to their stands. Then it was the afternoon, with everyone dashing in and out of the pavilion to see the aircraft put through their paces, including the 550 seat Airbus A380 and the Lockheed Martin Raptor.