Acrobatics at Paris Air Show

The focus at the Paris Air Show on Friday swung away from the wheeling and dealing of industry executives and back to the products they are peddling _ with aviation geeks lined up outside the Le Bourget airfield as the gates opened to the public.

After four industry days, The Associated Press looked back on the airlifter acrobatics and Airbus pioneers that marked the show, which is open to the public through Sunday.

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AIRFLIFTER ACROBATICS:

When Lockheed-Martin took the press up in their C-130J, the aging airlifter they are hoping will steal European business from the delayed Airbus A400M, the ride was a lot smoother than the nimble acrobatics performed by the Hercules cargo aircraft earlier this week.

French aviation authorities insisted that the pilot had a special aerobatic license to perform in a so-called "fighter box," a small patch of sky designated for flying displays for the much smaller fighter jets. Awed plane spotters cheered as the hulking gray turboprop banked at 90-degree angles _ a maneuver otherwise banned at the show for other multiengine aircraft.

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