Hot'n'High - what you say is true but Concorde was composite construction ......... Yes, the article is nearly 20 years old but I bow to the scientists....
Ohhhh, I shouldn't jump too much on what Scientists say
Crab!
They too can be "slack-Alices" - as they have here!!!!!!!
After all, they are simply Engineers who prefer nice warm research labs rather than freezing cold and dark hangars ................... and you know what us Engineers are like!!!!!!! Far more balanced and practical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Probably try and wind up this thread drift so I'll just add this in closing.
They (the Boffins) are correct in that a composite-type material was used in the honeycomb which was then used in a sandwich between alloy skins. After all, the old original metal Sea King blades were the same. Many aircraft flooring structures (were/are) the same. But it was a "honeycomb sandwich" construction. Again, avoid the use of "composite construction" as a technique as it is so loose that it could include plywood ...... which we all know is a laminate construction! "Alice" has an awful lot to answer for!!!!
On Concorde, the bonding between the honeycomb (made out of a composite-type material) and the metal skins failed leading to de-lamination of the honeycomb construction (ie gaps appearing between the metal skin and the honeycomb core). They pick up on that but then become "slack-Alices", tinkers that they are. But they are not composites - they are a "honeycomb sandwich" which, in this case, contained some composite materials within them.
Of course you do get sandwiches that contain both a honeycomb made of composites which is then sandwiched between composite sheets. The first of these were the Beech Starship IIR. But even that isn't a "composite construction" - those parts are a "honeycomb sandwich construction" but, this time, made entirely out of composites ........ and I'll return to this aircraft shortly as you'll be saying "Ah-ha! But the Starship IS a composite aircraft!"!!!!!!!!
But thinking of Concorde-type construction again ............ another example is the Convair B-58 (first flew in Nov, 1956) which had a wing surface consisted of a sandwich structure with Ally skins and a phenolic resin fiberglass cloth honeycomb core. Go the other way, the Mirage F1 horizontal stabilisers were made with boron epoxy skins and an aluminium honeycomb core! There are loads of examples.......
Now, there is a debate as to what constitutes the awarding of a descriptor of what is defined as a "Composite Aircraft" (as opposed to a "Metal Aircraft") and I believe there is some formula regarding %weights of metals and composites used in a design which leads to "it's a composite aircraft" or "it's a metal aircraft" as few aircraft are pure-metal or pure-composite. So, returning to the Beech Starship, this is the rule which makes that a composite aircraft. Clearly, most (all?) modern gliders are "Composite Aircraft" too. BTW, this applies to whole aircraft only ....... not to components there-in used!!!!!!
Anyway, I'll return to lurk-mode here having explored the depths of this particular rabbit warren. Hope it's been of some interest - or helped people with bad insomnia!!!! Apologies to the Mods for this dive off-track - I blame "Alice"!!!!!!!!!!