| Author | Message | ||
     Slaughter |
Kinda fun - don't get to do much bragging: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-03-20 -new-plane_N.htm | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Sorry to p*** on your matches but Concorde was built partly using honeycomb epoxy panels well over 30 years ago. My Dad worked for Ciba-Geigy who supplied the stuff, & he made several visits to the construction site at the time. De Havilland Mosquito was made of composite wood structure in WW II. I agree it's a step forward, but it's nowhere near a giant leap. | ||
| Slaughter |
True dat. Not a giant leap - what is not being said is it's built out of autoclave. It's the design, and NOT the materials that makes it difference... it is designed as a composite aircraft, taking advantage of the capabilities of composites - and NOT as a "black aluminum" aircraft - as is so often the case. Reduced parts count and elimination of MOST fasteners. Lockheed Vega was also plywood-molded in concrete molds back in the late 1920s. DeHavilland really did build sophisticated "cellulosic composite" sandwich panels - thin veneer and balsa sandwich. Their Vampire was the first pressurized "shirtsleeve" cockpit in an operational fighter aircraft using the veneer/balsa sandwich construction. Wood fuselage, metal wings and control surfaces. | ||
| Interex2050 |
Very nice! | ||
| Old_man |
Congratulations, It seems to me to be a great stride forward. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Ta for that, it wasn't clear in the article. My Dad edited the in-house stuff for CIBA for many years. He used to get raging about the stuff that got missed out of press articles. Journalists want to put the best spin on I suppose. | ||
| Djkaplan |
War weary Mosquitos were sold to the fledgling Israeli Air Force (as well as re-engined Messerschmit Bf-109's!) after WWII. Apparently the wood composite and glue didn't like the very dry air of the Sinai Desert and the airframe had a very bad habit of shedding it's wings when G's were pulled. I wonder how an all composite airframe is overhauled? | ||
| Dwardo |
The Mosquito was built in a very similar manner. The fuselage was formed in two halves, being pressed in a mold (I think) and glued up, then assembled. | ||
| Oldog |
I have to wonder can the structure be repaired when built that way? | ||
| Brianb |
Check out the latest experimentals from Epic Aircraft and Lancair. You also have Columbia and Cessna. Beechcraft built the Starship that was mostly composite. Airbus and Boeing as well. US military is finally adopting the latest composite technologies. (Message edited by brianb on March 25, 2008) | ||
| Smoke |
good job Steve. composite repair is time consuming and very particular. lots of layers and vacuum bagging. not sure of pressurized aircraft repairs to composites as the helicopters are not pressurized. for severe damage, we change out whole panels or sections. tim |
