Catching the new and classic aircraft at the Paris Air Show

The Paris Air Show wasn't just Boeing and Airbus, there were plenty of other aviation companies at Le Bourget Airport eager to show their aircraft. Military and commercial airplanes and helicopters were on display along with radical new aircraft designs and a few old favorites.

First up is the Mitsubishi Regional Jet or MRJ. An attempt by Japan to gain a foothold in the regional airliner industry, the MRJ made its first flight last November. 

Mitsubishi's regional jet rivals are Bombardier (based in Canada) and Embraer (based in Brazil). The aircraft will come in two versions: The MRJ70 will seat between 69 to 80 passengers and the MRJ90 will fit 81 to 92 passengers.

The MRJ was painted in the colors of Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways, which has ordered 15 aircraft.

The MRJ has a sleek, pointed nose.

Depending on the variant the MRJ is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW1215G or PW1217G engines. The typical cruising speed will be 447 knots -- that's 514 miles per hour or 828 km per hour.

Deliveries to ANA are scheduled to start in 2020.  

Parked nearby was a Sukhoi Superjet 100 in the attractive livery of Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet. Made by a subsidiary of the Russia-based United Aircraft Corporation, the Superjet first flew in 2008 and entered service in 2011. Made mostly for short to medium-range routes, it seats between 87 and 108 passengers.

A look over Le Bourget shows the wide variety of aircraft on display.

Stashed away in a corner was a Cirrus Vision Jet, a unique single-engine private jet.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is made by a division of Airbus. It currently flies with the air forces of several countries, including Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK.

One of the more curious aircraft on display was the Bell Boeing V-22 Opsrey. The tilt-rotor aircraft can take off/land and fly both like a helicopter and an airplane.  

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an attack helicopter. First introduced in 1986, it still flies with the US Air Force.

Boeing's Chinook helicopter was right next door. The twin-rotor copter is mainly used for troop movements, supply, missions and disaster relief. A ramp in the back allows for the loading of heavy cargo. 

The P-8 Poseidon is a military variant of Boeing's commercial 737 airliner. The US Navy has flown it since 2013 for maritime patrol missions.

Kawasaki's P-1 flies similar missions, but for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Lockheed's well-known C-130 heavy military transport also made an appearance. 

Lockheed's 100J is the civilian version of the C-130 Hercules. It also has a rear ramp for loading heavy equipment.

Qatar Airways flew in a Boeing 777 to show of its new Qsuite business class.

I love this rainbow-painted propeller on this ATR 72 in the colors of new airline customer IndiGo. 

A lineup of sleek Gulfstrem private jets tempted visitors with a few million bucks to spare.

Also located at Le Bourget is the Musée de l'air et de l'espace or the Museum of Air and Space, which displays a wide variety of historic aircraft including two Concorde supersonic airliners. The Concorde on the left (registration F-WTSS) was the first Concorde built and the first one to fly on March 2, 1969. It remained a prototype and testing aircraft and never flew passengers. The Concorde on the right (registration F-BTSD) flew with Air France between 1978 and 2003.

Outside is a iconic (and dirty) Boeing 747-100, which flew with Air France between 1972 to 2003.