Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Airbus A350 and carbon fiber

The Airbus A350 is a family of long-range, wide-body jet airliners under development by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.  The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer. [emphasis added]  Wikipedia

Very interesting.  This isn't consistent with what I was thinking earlier today about using inflatable wings- but it may be a better idea.  Let's say you fashion a wing that doubles as a fuel tank.  The entire structure could be a flying gas can, but that is already what it is.

Come to think of it, you need someplace to hold the motors in place, but how did the Airbus manage that?   The Airbus design suggests that it could be done.

In case you are wondering, this post is about making a flying rocket.  It would launch vertical and land horizontal.  You could stack a second stage plus cargo on top of it.

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