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The Boeing 787 Dreamliner: Composites on Trial Part II

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is 80% composite materials by volume and 50% by weight. Rising fuel costs mandate widespread use of composites, but questions about long term structural stability have yet to be resolved. In the second of a three-part series, we assess the Dreamliner in minute detail, while also bringing you news of a dramatic blog post on composite fuselage cracks written by an industry insider.

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Airbus A350: Composites on Trial Part I

The Airbus A350 represents a breakthrough in aircraft design because more than 50% of the aircraft's weight is composite parts. However, recent Airbus crashes that have shocked the world again raise questions about the long term durability of carbon-resin components. In the first of a three part series, we look at composites as they appear in the A350 and start to weigh up their benefits – and potential costs.

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Mid-Crash Photos From Inside Air France Flight 447 (According to Spammers)

Real life air crashes are such tragic events that when spurious material emerges claiming to document them, hoaxes must be exposed. This photo and the next one in sequence have once again re-appeared on the web with a very misleading attribution. In early June 2009, they appeared for at least the third time claiming to be photos from one of two real life jetliner crashes.

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