A friend today mentioned he thought the 787 might be an utter failure for Boeing. In particular he is skeptical about the 100% composite concept, feeling that the long term viability of composites in an airframe is still in question. So 2 questions: 1) Will the composites hold up? and 2) If the 787 becomes another BAE Comet would Boeing survive? (Personally, I think composites for airliners will work with the reduced hull part count, with large single piece components providing the strongest aircraft ever...) |