As the long-awaited 787 touched down in the UK for the first time, newspapers, radio and TV were united in their mock-incredulous trumpeting of Boeing's 'plastic plane',rnIt was perhaps an inevitable reaction, but not one - we would argue-that'll resonate with anyone who has even half an eye on the world of engineering.rnFar from being some exotic, startling new development, composites are more widely used than many appear to realise.rnAnd while Dreamliner's fuselage undoubtedly pushes the application of the material to a new level, the aerospace industry fell in love with the lightweight /high-strength properties of composites many years ago. Indeed, it would be hard to identify a single civil airliner operating today that doesn't feature composite parts somewhere.
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