Airbus reveal 'plane of 2050'

**popemobile** · 30th June 2011, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by mudmouse

Since windows are 'lifed' I think that belongs with Mr.Jetson. Who's going to buy a pressurized motorplane that needs half its skin replaced every thousand cycles or whatever life they put on them.

I'm not a fan of composites......me like metal.

Matt.

Oh dear, Dont fly in the Airbus A380 then. There all composite skins. Composites are definitily the most viable materials technology for advancing many things, however old technologies are the best in certain applications. F1 still uses wood where its best!! As the plank that rubs on the road under the car. IF composite was better thats what would be there. But for the attributes they need wood is best. I would rather wear kevlar body armour than DO A NED KELLY and my last name is KELLY!! Each material has its own properties and they qualify it best for each application. Get the application right and your on a winner.

Get it wrong and your in an irish submarine made out of potatoe skin paper mache with water based glue powered by nuclear requiring you to wear a lead lifejacket to comply with safety regulations.

Sorry last time I checked the Irish navy had no boats (oh no here come the irish in the canoes, they will out manouver our larger ships
"we will finish our game of bowls and still have time to defeat the spanish armada" )

By the way, me like metal too, Mild steel pref so I can weld it without preheat

**dhc4ever** · 1st July 2011, 04:21 PM

Well the Irish navy does have patrol boats, no subs.
The A380 is running a lot of composite reinforced alloy skin to get under the law of physics that says if you're too heavy you cant fly. Turns out lighter and hopefully stronger than alloy on it own.
The windows on pressurised aircraft have always been lifed, changed on a time cycle and / or if found damaged.
The interesting thing about new materials is you will need to produce new ways to inspect them for ,cracks, de-lamination and fatigue, although there are some problems you get with metal structures that you wont get with composites and visa versa.
Hopefully we wont have a Comet type disaster to highlight an unforeseen problem with the new composite building techniques or materials.
I like mild steel as well to weld, I keep leaving puddles when I try aluminium

**mudmouse** · 4th July 2011, 06:24 AM

...and that's my issue - composites cannot be inspected to the degree of alloys (metal), nor can a catastrophic failure of a complex composite structure be analyised to determine the point of failure like metals can.

So, that's why me like metal in my motorplane (moto-plane: endearing term from Indigenous Aussies who'd say, 'me like dat one moto-plane'). Ever tried welding fibreglass

...and if the bulk of the structure of the a/c is lifed, then why would a company buy one. They only put windows in the things so people can have something to look at - clouds, black nothing, curvature of the earth....

DHC4 - that was (is) a cool motorplane

Composites are here to stay (and have been used in a/c for 70+ years), I'm just a fan of aluminium overcasts....

M

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