Farnborough Takes Off With The Red Arrows

The Farnborough International Airshow has opened with a joint flypast of the Red Arrows and the world's last airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber.

The seven-day event also got off to a good start for British business, with Rolls-Royce announcing a £118m order from the US Army.

The contract is to service M250 engines, which power the US Army's fleet of Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters.

Rolls-Royce also unveiled the first jet engine to be made entirely from Lego.

The engine is a half-size replica of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, which powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

The show was officially opened by the Prime Minister, who said aerospace was a real success story and a "vitally important industry in the UK and for the future of our country and our economy".

But he warned the rest of the world was "breathing down our necks" and the UK had to be constantly alive to the competition.

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing used the show to announce a £4.65bn order for 75 new planes.

Seattle-based Boeing said US-based Air Lease Corporation was ordering 60 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and 15 737 MAX 9s, with reconfirmation rights for 25 more 737 MAX planes.

The 737 is often described as the "workhorse of the skies" and the 737 MAX is a new-engine variant of what is the world's best-selling aircraft.

The MAX is said to be more fuel-efficient than other planes of its kind.

Expectations are high that Boeing will clinch a raft of deals for the plane as it tries to catch up with rival Airbus in orders for single-aisle aircraft.

At last year's Paris Airshow, Airbus outsold Boeing by four times in the sector with its A320neo.

Around 1,400 exhibitors from more than 40 countries will be at Farnborough over the next few days, including Sir Richard Branson, who will be giving an update on his Virgin Galactic space tourism plans.

Space will be a recurring theme of the show, which is held once every two years, with the 2010 show leading to the placing of orders worth a total of £30bn.

Sir Richard will be revealing what his SpaceShipTwo craft will look like, and the show will also feature a space zone, with exhibits from the UK Space Agency.

The Red Arrows will again feature in the five-hour flying display that takes place on the two public days of the show - Saturday and Sunday.

There will also be a variety of military jets and historic aircraft on display, with the world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380 superjumbo, among the aircraft that will fly.