Aircraft Basic Science, Eighth Edition, 8th Edition

Aircraft Materials

8

INTRODUCTION

Many materials have been used in aircraft. Early aircraft were lightweight assemblies of wood and fabric, kept aloft by engines producing marginal power. Steel-tubing and wooden structural elements with a covering of cotton or linen fabric were used for the first practical aircraft. The development of aluminum-alloy structures, beginning in the late 1930s, resulted in the all-metal designs in use today. By the early 1950s, aircraft development focused on power plants. At that time, aircraft designs were more limited by power considerations than by structural problems.

As more powerful engines were developed, the use of existing materials was pushed to the limit. The development of supersonic aircraft resulted ...