article: It's an event that regularly sees a torrent of corporate deals, and has played a key role as a marketplace for Britain's aerospace and defence firms. It is a showcase for a sector worth Â£55bn a year, the fifth-largest industry in the UK that employs 340,000 people. Indeed, the last show in 2014 saw a record $204bn (Â£157bn) worth of orders being placed. "Farnborough is a global shop window for the UK and Europe, for the entire world," Shaun Omerod, chief executive of Farnborough International, said ahead of this year's show, which starts on Monday. "It connects UK small and medium-sized companies - who ordinarily wouldn't get this access - to the global market." If Farnborough's own connection with flying starts in 1904 with the Army Balloon Factory and the first flight of an aeroplane in the UK (by the showman Samuel Cody in 1908), then the history of today's air show actually begins in suburban London. In a bid to sell their wares the Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) organised a one-day exhibition at the annual RAF flying display at Hendon in 1932. It was small by today's standards, with just 35 aircraft on display and only 16 companies taking part; this year there will be some 1,500 exhibitors. After the Second World War the event was initially held at Radlett, moving in 1948 to Farnborough, the home of the Royal Aircraft Establishment - responsible for researching and testing experimental designs. The show has been the stage for many of the high points of post-war aviation, from the wonderful to the whimsical, such as the Saunders Roe A1 flying boat jet fighter. First flown in 1947 at the show it was an heroic but ultimately flawed attempt to marry a long-range fighter with a flying boat. The idea was it wouldn't need to land on aircraft carriers as the Allies fought Japan across the Pacific Ocean, but the end of the war put paid to any use it might have had. The 1949 show saw the truly massive Bristol Brabazon, then the world's biggest airliner. It was designed to conquer the transatlantic air routes for Britain's aircraft industry. Driven by eight propellers it was so big that its construction was delayed while the runway at Bristol's Filton factory was extended so it could take off. Yet despite its size it only carried 100 passengers, and airlines thought it too big and expensive. Only one was ever built. The same event also saw the UK introduce the world's first jet airliner - the DH Comet. The Comet's pressurised cabin meant people could travel in comfort. It was a commercial success at first, yet the design hid a serious weakness. Its square window frames contributed to metal fatigue, which led to a series of fatal crashes within a couple of years. The entire fleet was grounded for four years while the flaws were ironed out and the aircraft strengthened. Later Comet models flew well - indeed the RAF used the Nimrod, a version of the Comet, until 2011 - but they were
summary: Farnborough: a small town in southern England; the birthplace of aviation in the UK and home for almost 70 years of arguably the world's most important air show.