The Escalating Woes at Airbus

The airframe is a big gamble, but Boeing does have good experience with composites. It is the next logical step in airframe construction. Boeing is betting the farm on it. If composites are a failure, Airbus will be in a pretty dominat position with the A350 that

Originally posted by FredT
The airframe is a big gamble, Boeing is betting the farm on it.

but Boeing does have good experience with composites. It is the next logical step in airframe construction.

If composites are a failure, Airbus will be in a pretty dominat position with the A350 that

it's not the first time they bet the farm. they did it with the 707, with the 747, and 737. a side note is that these planes were built with out any tax breaks or aid from cities or the state but that's a topic for a different thread.

yes they do have quite alot of experience. they did most of the wing/body on the B2.

I don't think composites will be a failure in so much as this is quite a leap from small scale to the large scale of commercial planes, along with the inherit risk of law suits.

if you read lancair's info they have tested their composite plane to 10 psi cabin difference and recommend that builders test it to 6.5psi. but this is quite a bit smaller and only seats 4 not 400.

zibi, I meant that I was wondering if being a long way behind the competition in terms of timescale would kill off the planes chances, historically this put paid to the VC-10 despite passengers actually preferring it, the 707 and DC-8 were just too entrenched for the VC-10 to make any inroads, I wondered if a parallel was on the cards for the A350.

However, as I found out after your prompting, the 767 has sold very well despite the A300 having a ten year lead in the market, as Fred pointed out, it could come down to production slots if the 787 line is sold out for a period where the A350 is available and once the type establishes itself it could then take on the 787 in more or less equal terms, commercially speaking. Of course it all ultimately depends on how close Airbus gets to the operating economics of the 787. If that gap is too large then earlier slots wont matter.

replying to another point, didn't the Learfan have an all-composite pressurised cabin?