Plastic planes 'set to rule sky'

BBC ^ | : Sunday, 16 July 2006, 19:25 GMT 20:25 UK | Staff

[Kenny Bunk]

always thought the aircraft industry missed the bet by not going with cast iron...

Spoken like a true Soviet aircraft designer.

[The Red Zone]

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.

Till the giant part gets dinged by a food truck, then what? They can't just replace a panel or a bracket or whatever.

[DuncanWaring]

Till the giant part gets dinged by a food truck...

It's my understanding their fiber supplier puts some sort of outer coating on the fibers that keep them from unraveling when dinged.

[HamiltonJay]

Ahead of the Farnborough Air Show, the US plane giant boss said "all future planes will be made out of composites", because it does not corrode.

Yes, but they do, delmaninate, crack and fail... And often do so catastrophically and without warning... such as that Airbus Composite Tail that snapped off in NY, killing all aboard.

[ArrogantBustard]

Concrete, man. Cast, reinforced, prestressed concrete.
Held together with bolts anchored with epoxy, rught?

Of course, and assembled in Boston.

[Vinnie]

Titanium needs preciously little maintenance, does not corrode and is impervious to sunlight/UV caused degradation

Just don't get cadmium near it.

[phantomworker]

More composites info:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003049536_dreamliner09.html

[Lazamataz]

Where are the granite-and-slate based planes I saw in the Flintstones?

[Lazamataz]

The airplane of the future will be made of concrete.

Plutonium.

If it crashes, don't sweat the Black Box. It's vaporized, man.

[sittnick]

They went away when the over-sized pterodactyls that carried them went extinct.

[RayChuang88]

Unfortunately, up till now titanium metal has been very expensive to refine--something like 6-7 times the cost of refining aluminum metal. However, recent developments in titanium refining technology could drastically cut the cost of titanium refining, which could make it possible for airliners to use far more titanium structural parts. The switch to titanium structural parts could cut the weight of an airliner as much as 18%, since you don't need as much titanium alloy for the ssame structural strength as you need with aluminum alloy.

[ChadGore]

"Plastic" is a really poor way to describe the state of the art in material science today.

[Larry Lucido]

I dated a plutonium blonde once. It didn't go well.

[Wiz]

ping

[Lazamataz]

I dated a plutonium blonde once.

Yeah, but I bet it was some utterly explosive he....

.....never mind.

[webstersII]

"Mulally should be talking to Burt Rutan."

They are probably running scared of Rutan.

Rutan has designed and built a commuter aircraft with a composite fuselage and high efficiency for carrying about 15-20 passengers. His idea is to enable the concept of small regional airports that run regular taxi routes which will be inexpensive and way more convenient than going to a large airport.

For trips of just a couple of hundred miles it makes alot of sense if they can get the price point down for each passenger. If the industry goes that way, toward smaller aircraft as air taxis, then the big companies like Delta and Northwestern will get a lot of competition for certain routes.

[SwinneySwitch]

Ever hear of the "Grumman Iron Works"?

[dalereed]

I was speaking of the "workers" not the parts!

[phantomworker]

I am sure the workers have a certain stake in the success of the Company as well or it would be another Airbust.

[uglybiker]

Concrete, man. Cast, reinforced, prestressed concrete.

Wood and rocks.
More eco-friendly.