That's the way I'm tempted to think at the moment, especially in view of upcoming designs like the new Boeing 787 (that has yet to fly its maiden voyage) and that is mostly built with composite materials. My next door neighbor, Ed Thiel, a 777 captain, doesn't think so, and believe that if anything, new planes are sturdier than ever. I personally am not so sure. Is there any aircraft designer out there who might read this and would comment on it?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Are new planes sturdy enough?
Following the crash of Air France flight 447 between Rio and Paris, I've read a lot of reports, a few questioning the “fly-by-wire” system of the Airbus 330 aircraft and some related flight incidents, but none wondering if the search for fuel efficiency in recent years has not led engineers to designs planes that are a bit less sturdy and less apt at taking the severe beating that violent, high altitude storms, might subject a fairly large aircraft. 
That's the way I'm tempted to think at the moment, especially in view of upcoming designs like the new Boeing 787 (that has yet to fly its maiden voyage) and that is mostly built with composite materials. My next door neighbor, Ed Thiel, a 777 captain, doesn't think so, and believe that if anything, new planes are sturdier than ever. I personally am not so sure. Is there any aircraft designer out there who might read this and would comment on it?
That's the way I'm tempted to think at the moment, especially in view of upcoming designs like the new Boeing 787 (that has yet to fly its maiden voyage) and that is mostly built with composite materials. My next door neighbor, Ed Thiel, a 777 captain, doesn't think so, and believe that if anything, new planes are sturdier than ever. I personally am not so sure. Is there any aircraft designer out there who might read this and would comment on it?
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