Posted on 07/16/2006 8:03:59 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
Noise would be the largest problem to overcome.
Speaking of which, the cancer rates might go up among pilots and stewardesses. They already get high doses of radiation from their long flight hours high in the atmosphere. I would think more radiation can pass through carbon fibers than Aluminum or Titanium so their radiation doses will most certainly go up.
What type of planes, just curious. Mass produced or one of a kind?
"How I wish that were true. Carbon is very labor intensive."
If you went and watched the skining of aircraft in a plant with union labor you wouldn't say that.
If it moved you would think it was a stump!
LOL... Before my time, but the Grumman Aircraft Company in WWII built such rugged and reliable aircraft that they were referred to as the Grumman Iron Works.
Thanks. I goggled but couldn't find the pic you found.
Held together with bolts anchored with epoxy, rught?
They have all new moving lines now.
They ARE cheaper than anything else, because the fuselage sections and the wing box and the wing structures are composite. The fuselage is laid up on a rotating mandrel and then cured in a huge oven (AUTOCLAVE) and emerging in ONE PIECE. This saves about a gazillion parts (and associated rivets) and therefore LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of LABOR.
I agree; composites are not 'CHEAP', but they are RELATIVELY cheap.
And they are proven.
Boeing and Airbus have been using composites for years. Notably, in Boeing-built military aircraft and control surfaces in transport ships. The BIG DEAL now is the fuselage, because it is a 'pressure vessel'.
And I'm crossing my fingers with everyone else that this works.
See this Mulally report from Farnborough for more inspiring news.
Gee, you were just making a pun and you got some serious technical replies!
Referencing composite materials, the statement was a two parter. :-)
I agree composites are "relatively" cheap.
The fuselage development is on schedule.
That's right. I heard one of their retired employees refer to them as "Charlie Grumman's Iron Works".
My dog is a great hunter.
I wonder what the composite loaded plastics mean in terms of expansion/contraction and how they do at supersonic speeds. I can believe they do ok at sub-sonic speeds but could they be used for high tech fighters?
"Airbus is in for a world of hurt. Their A380 will have a short lifespan. After Boeing develops its plastic replacement for the 737 and 757, they will develop a plastic replacement for the 777-300 and 747's. They will have much lower CASM than the A380 and cause Airbus to shut down the A380 program decades earlier than they expected."
==
Airbus - the symbol of the World's leftist moon-bats. Spiraling down into the Sargasso Sea.
What? Composites have been used in fighters for decades. The B-2 which was designed in the 1980's and first flew in 1989 is all composite. Engineers are just a little bit conservative in using composites in the fuselage of an aircraft holding 250-300 people. Military planes have used them to decrease weight and increase performance, and it is assumed that military aircraft take greater risks than do civilian transports. It is the military experience with composites that allows Boeing to have confidence in using them for civilian aircraft.
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