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Airbus was the first company to use a large composite load-bearing structure on an airliner, the A300 vertical tail back in 1984. Most of the A380 and A350 are
by dingaling 6y ago
Airbus was the first company to use a large composite load-bearing structure on an airliner, the A300 vertical tail back in 1984.
Most of the A380 and A350 are composite, just put together differently to the 787.
Airbus also now have access to the most advanced composite lay-up technology, used by Bombardier Belfast to build the A220 wings.
The real pioneer was Beech, with the all-composite Starship; it took huge balls to release that on the commercial market, and sadly the gamble didn't pay off. They went back to building aluminium King Airs.
- redis_mlc 6y agoComposites have some pluses, but also serious minuses. Here's a good overview: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/composite-materials-aircraft-structure-282777 https://www.thebalancecareers.com/composite-materials-aircra... Metals have inherent temperature-resistance and repairability that composites don't have, and support transsonic and supersonic flight heating. Some early aircraft that used composites ended up heavier than aluminum, so achieved no benefit. I consider metals to be higher tech than composites for aircraft construction. Also, metal can be quickly stamped, whereas composites are generally made by vacuum forming, which is a slow process that's hard to parallelize. Most of the WW2 planes you've heard of were made of metal in runs of 10,000 to 20,000 each, impossible for composites - you might get 10% or less.