Originally Posted by
tdracer
If metal foil external to the carbon fiber structure is so important, why isn't it needed on the A350? According to what Less Hair posted, they embed copper mesh - just like Boeing - no mention of external foil in the fuel tanks...
Remember the jokes 30 years ago when people would boast that they flew a metallic Boeing, and Airbus builds plastic aircraft ? Like it or not Airbus does have more extensive in service experience with composite aero structures in commercial aviation.
Airbus addressed these issues from the outset in the initial design testing and certification (they actually subjected a test airframe to numerous lighting strikes in the fuel tank area) to and has not changed the way to builds the wings. There is detail design differences between the way the two companies addressed the issues. The A350 wing was designed with the experience they had developed on the A380 HTP and the A400 wing.
The issue here is that Boeing went off reservation and starting building wings that did not conform to the original certification basis without first getting the new certification basis. This represents issues with the production certificate as well as the type certificate.
This is the second production certificate issue I have heard in a week, the other being a 737 wing part identified by the subcontractor as being non conforming ending up on assembled civil and military airframes.