A fly by the 2018 Farnborough Airshow

If you've never been to the Farnborough Airshow, it's hard to know what to expect. Will it all be wall-to-wall mustachioed men in their flying machines? Not quite. A good chunk of it is wall-to-wall exhibition stands. But having spent a day at the biannual event just outside London, my heart goes out to the local residents. They would know what to expect: noise. And lots of it. Because whether you're a trade delegate or an ordinary punter, you won't be able to overhear the fly displays.

That said, with the World Cup just lost and a government cabinet virtually lost in action, a bit of "best of British" ought to do this old island a bit of good. And it's in that spirit that your reporter missed the famed Red Arrows fly display on Monday morning. Shame on moi.

Though I did see a Boeing 737 do its stuff, and quite fitting it was, too. Some nice folks from an aerospace tubing company based in Illinois, USA, even told me on the train down from London that the Boeing 737 was assembled in about a week. From bits to bums on seats in 5 days. Amazing. It was also the last Boeing to still be painted by hand, they said. Fun fact, hey?!

Later, Cornwall Spaceport and Virgin Orbit signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on a spaceport in the far southwest of England.

Virgin Orbit's Patrick McCall says it's part of Virgin's visions for space, including space tourism with Virgin Galactic. Cornwall hopes the agreement will also encourage more young people into STEM careers. The UK will need that with Brexit on the horizon. It needs to keep attracting people who want to work and innovate in the UK's growing New Space sector.

(Incidentally there was a guy from Boeing at that signing, and he confirmed the 737 story - lest I be accused of fake news. But I digress.)

Racing over to Hall 3, I caught a Portuguese firm called Tekever unveil its latest unmanned aircraft, or UAV, or drone ... except if you call it a drone, people immediately tend to think the worst of the technology.

And that may not be altogether fair, as Tekever' AR5 is there to safeguard our oceans, as the tag line goes. It can be operated at a distance 500 kilometers (about 300 miles) or more, using a range of sensors to spot unauthorized vessels or oil spills. In fact, Tekever, as well as other Portuguese aerospace companies like it, may be about to give the UK a run for its money. Portugal has its own spaceport ambitions. And as Tekever's CEO Ricardo Mendes told me, "Portugal has definitely woken up."

So far, however, the most exciting experience at the airshow was when I crashed a plane. And that was topped about 30 minutes later when I got thrown out of a flying helicopter. Fortunately both were simulations. So I shall be back for more.

The Farnborough Airshow happens every two years in the UK in mid-July. Every other year the airshow is held in Paris, France. The world's second-largest airshow, it's a chance for companies to show off their civilian and military aircraft and to get the public excited about what they're doing and creating. It's only open to the public for two days, but during that time roughly 100,000 people visit the show at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire.